Fairy Tail S
by ZenkaiPower
Summary: For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Two Years after Son Gohan's death…

The late morning summer air over Mt. Paozu rang rhythmically with the sounds of weapons clashing, loud booms, and yelling as two warriors rapidly exchanged blows, matching each other with every move. The aerial struggle continued for some time before one of the fighters began to tire.

Sixteen year old Son Goten landed smoothly on the grassy peak of a nearby mountain, leaning on the Nyoibo as he panted a few times. His sparring partner, the twenty year old Trunks Briefs, landed next to him, smirking and sheathing the Brave Sword over his right shoulder as he did. Both of them were covered in scrapes and bruises, but Goten seemed to have taken slightly more hits.

"Not bad, Goten." Trunks remarked as his best friend stood up straight, "It's only been a year, but you're pretty dangerous with that thing."

"Yeah, I'm kinda glad Dad gave me it before he left with that kid." Goten agreed, still taking deep breaths, "No wonder why Erza thought I should use it."

"She definitely knew her weapons." Trunks recollected, adding sadly, "I miss training with her."

"She wouldn't be too happy if she knew you left your sword behind, though." Goten stated with a grin, "You're lucky that Iga guy's been looking out for you."

"Yeah." Trunks agreed, still slightly embarrassed over his error. He had taken and returned most of his personal effects from Earthland with him, but none of them were his most precious belonging.

In the Battle for Magnolia, Trunks had thrown his sword in the fight; but in his hurry he had neglected to retrieve it before Whis rushed him back to Earth. He had not noticed it was missing until it was too late, and Trunks had trained for the past two years without his prized weapon. But sometime last night, the Brave Sword appeared on the floor of Trunks' bedroom. He had found it in its scabbard when he woke in the morning, also discovering a letter on the underside of it that said:

 _Trunks,_

 _I found this laying around after the fight in Magnolia. It took some time to figure out how to get it back to you, but here it is. Hopefully by now you've assumed I've FINALLY figured out the amplifier, and you would be right. Lisanna's still living at the Sanctuary with me and she's doing okay; and with the amplifier running, we'll both be keeping an eye on you. I still owe you for helping me land my own personal cook, though, the food she makes is so amazing. I'm worried someone important would notice if we traveled to Earth or directly communicated with you, so we're not going to do that any time soon; but we've been thinking about sneaking some food over to you. It's not fair to gloat if I'm not going to share, right? So far, the worst thing happening is that I've had to pick up your part of the chores around here. Anyway, things have been slow since you left; and I won't bore you with the details. I just wanted to get the sword back to you, since I know how much it means to you. Hopefully someday you'll return; you wouldn't believe some of the surprises we've got for you. Until then, stay safe and stay strong._

 _Your undying friend, Igneel._

Trunks had read the note with an amused smirk at his Master, and he was happy to hear Lisanna was doing fine; but he immediately felt the need to fight someone with his favorite weapon once again, also thinking if Iga or Lisanna were watching, they would take the sight of the fighting as a form of thanks. He quickly got dressed and flew to the Son homes to wake his best friend up for a sparring match; and the two had been dueling for the past three hours since then.

"At least we know someone from Fairy Tail's okay." Goten remarked as he put the Nyoibo in its case over his left shoulder, "I've been worried ever since you told me about the battle that was going on."

"I'm sure Wendy's fine too." Trunks assured his friend, knowing exactly what he was worried about.

"I just wish she knew I was alive." Goten said, slightly sour, "Like your girlfriend does."

"Master only works a certain way." Trunks explained, "Lisanna's only in the know because she's part of his team."

"So why can't Iga make Wendy a part of his team?" Goten questioned.

"I don't know." Trunks answered with an honest shrug, "Maybe she's busy. I don't know what's going on over there."

"Yeah, I guess." Goten gave in with a sigh.

"Hey, don't worry about it, man." Trunks said with a reassuring smile, stepping closer and patting his friend on the shoulder, "Let's go get some lunch and stop thinking about this depressing stuff. There's this awesome place by my house you might like. I'll buy this time, too."

Goten nodded quickly at the mention of free food, matching Trunks' grin before following his best friend into the air.

Not too far from the demi-Saiyans' training area…

Son Videl was busy cleaning dishes after having just enjoyed a late breakfast with her daughter and mother-in-law. Pan had left with her grandmother after they ate, planning on helping the oldest Son woman with running errands; so Videl had some time for herself. She was glad for it, too. It had been days since she had much alone time; so she was relieved Chi Chi had offered to take Pan off her hands. It was also the anniversary of her husband's death; and though she knew that it was all part of Gohan's plan, she still felt the pain of his absence, especially today.

As soon as she had finished cleaning the last of the dishes, she checked the time and saw it was nearly midday. Guessing she had somewhere around an hour and a half before Pan and Chi Chi would be done with the groceries, she hurried to her bedroom to change. Getting out of her sleeveless red dress, black thigh-high leggings, and matching red shoes as soon as she entered the room, she quickly exchanged them for a long-sleeved orange shirt, a pair of loose-fitting white pants, and an orange pair of boots; and she began to rush out the room when a thought hit her. She stopped halfway out the bedroom door before turning around and moving for one of the dressers. Going through her husband's clothes, she quickly found what she was looking for before attempting to hold it in front of herself.

"Wow." She remarked as she felt her arms straining to hold up an old blue shirt, "This thing really is heavy."

It took her a moment, but Videl was able to put the weighted shirt on before she left the room. As soon as she was out behind the house, she immediately began to stretch. Nearly a half-hour later, while Videl was trying to see how quickly she could deliver successive punches and kicks, she heard the noise of someone landing nearby.

"Hey, Sis!" She heard Goten greet, and she stopped in midair to see him standing next to Trunks, who waved a greeting to her.

"Hey, you two." She replied amiably before landing, "You're here early; Chi Chi and I are making a late lunch today."

"That's okay, Videl, we already had lunch." Trunks informed her, "We came over to check on you, actually. Your energy was going crazy, so we just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine." She told them before apologizing, "I guess I'm just working off a lot of stress at the moment. I'm sorry if I took you two from something."

"Nah," Goten replied with his usual smile, "We were done eating when we felt your ki."

"That's good." She replied before looking over the two. She had seen Goten nearly every day for the past two years, but she still could not believe he had grown so quickly. Seeing him standing at the same height as Trunks, she could not help but smirk at the clone of her father-in-law.

"What?" Goten asked, seeing her smile, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." She lied, "I was just thinking about a joke your mom made earlier."

"Oh, okay." Goten accepted the answer before changing the subject, "Is Pan with Mom right now?"

"Yup." Videl answered with a nod, "I was trying to get some training in before they got back."

"Need any help?" Goten questioned, "I can spar with you for a little, if you want."

Videl took a moment to think the offer over before accepting it.

"Well," Trunks said with a thought, "If you two are gonna do that, I guess I should head on home and see if Mom needs my help with anything."

"Okay," Goten replied before adding, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Videl added her goodbye as well before Trunks shot into the sky.

A few days later…

Trunks finally finished helping his grandfather and a few others on a company project before ducking out the lab so no one in the workspace could start a conversation with him. Trunks did not have a problem with the workers of his family's company, but the Saiyan in him did have a problem with bootlickers. And with his grandfather only getting older; Trunks and his mother both were having issues with people constantly trying to get in their good graces. Every day like clockwork, there would be a handful of CC employees offering their services in any way they could or pitching their own ideas directly to them. In a company built around innovation and advanced sciences, new ideas were certainly encouraged; but its workers were never encouraged to chase down their bosses in the hallways and follow them to their destination, chattering the entire time. He knew no one meant any harm, probably; but none of the CC employees were aware of his heightened senses. So when Trunks would get trapped in a room with the press or over-zealous employees, he would quickly get headaches from all the noises and scents. Trunks also was still not used to all the attention, and he was beginning to think he actually had an aversion to the limelight. Also unfortunately for Trunks, his mother spent more time taking care of Bulla than actually working nowadays; so he had to deal with most of these annoyances on his own.

But tonight, luck seemed to be on his side as he stepped into the hallway to find it empty. Moving quickly while he had the chance, he hurried to an elevator that quickly brought him up to the next floor, a.k.a. his home. Employees at Capsule Corp. were almost never allowed onto the second floor; so Trunks was confused when there was a woman in a lab coat waiting to greet him as he stepped out the elevator. She seemed to be a typical employee, so he was curious as to how she managed to gain access to this floor.

"Um…" Trunks greeted her, "Hi?"

"Hello, Trun- I mean, Mr. Briefs." The woman said nervously as she felt Trunks look her over. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he did not recognize her medium-length black hair; and he definitely did not remember knowing an employee that ever wore as much makeup as her. If she hadn't been moving around when he arrived, Trunks thought he would have confused her for a misplaced mannequin. Besides her voice, the only trait she had that stood out to Trunks was her bright blue eyes.

"Do I know you?" Trunks questioned.

"No, I don't think so." The woman replied, "My name is Anna, I'm new around here."

"That would explain why you didn't know to avoid this floor." Trunks commented, getting the feeling she was hiding something from him, "Actually, you're not allowed on this floor entirely. How did you get here?"

"I don't really know, sir." The woman explained, "I'm actually very lost."

"Clearly." Trunks remarked, not liking her non-answer, "Well, let me at least show you the way out."

Trunks turned back to the elevator and called for it before turning back around to see the woman had disappeared.

"What the hell?" Trunks said, looking around in confusion until he saw a sliver of white cloth turn down the hallway to his right.

 _Oh crap,_ Trunks thought as he jogged after the woman, _She's heading for Mom and Dad's room!_

"Hey!" He called out as he turned the corner, only to find no one in the hallway. Quickly deciding to use his ki sense to locate her, he furrowed his brow when he could not. The young man was beginning to question his sanity, but he still felt he needed to find this woman. If she was real, Trunks knew she could end up in real danger, especially if she stumbled across his father; and he also knew his mother would kill him for allowing a security breach to wander around their home. He walked into his mother and father's bedroom after finding the door slightly ajar, only to see an empty room. There were no other doors in this section of the hallway, so Trunks knew she had to be in here; but after a quick inspection of the entire room, he found nothing.

"What are you doing in here?" He heard from the door, jumping with surprise at hearing his father's voice.

"Nothing, Dad." Trunks said as he tried to explain, "I just thought I saw someone come in here."

"Who?" Vegeta asked with his arms crossed.

"I don't know," Trunks answered, "She said her name was Anna, but I think she was lying."

"I don't see anyone in here." His father remarked.

"Yeah, I couldn't find her." Trunks agreed before asking, "You didn't see anyone sneak past me while I was in here, did you?"

The look on his father's face showed his answer was a no. It also showed clear annoyance.

"I'm going to go look somewhere else." Trunks said quickly, and his father gave him a "you go do that" sort of look before he hurried past him.

 _Where the hell did she go?_ Trunks asked himself as he walked further down the hallway, knowing he would find his mother and sister in the dining room at the moment. And sure enough, he was greeted there by his four year old sister and his mother.

"Trunks!" Bulla cheered as he entered the room.

"Hey, Trunks." His mother said before giving him a concerned look, "Are you okay? You look stressed about something. Did you get ambushed by employees again?"

"That's not it." Trunks began before he considered asking about Anna or not. It took him a moment to decide.

"I'm trying to find someone around here." He explained, hoping he was not losing his mind in front of his entire family.

"Someone?" Bulma questioned, "Who?"

"I don't know," Trunks told her, "It's this woman, I saw her when I got out the elevator; but I lost her after I turned around to call it back and put her on it."

"The only person I've seen walking around was your father." Bulma informed him before asking, "Are you sure you're okay? You know how hard it is for people to get in here without permission."

"I know." Trunks replied, "Maybe I am losing my mind."

As soon as he said that, his mother gasped at something behind him.

"What?!" He asked worriedly, spinning to see what was behind him.

"I saw her!" his mother declared, running to the doorway and looking down both sides of the hall, "Where did she go?"

"I knew I wasn't the only one!" Trunks remarked happily before asking, "Did she have black hair and a lab coat?"

"I think so." Bulma answered before adding, "I should probably call security."

"No." Trunks told her, to her surprise, "I can't feel this girl's energy. She might be hiding it, and if she knows how to do that…"

"Then security's probably not going to be enough." His mother agreed.

"Which way did you see her go?" Trunks asked quickly.

"Towards your room, I think." Bulma said nervously.

"Stay here with Bulla." He told his mother, "And get Dad if I don't come back in a few minutes."

Bulma nodded tentatively before Trunks walked out the room, walking down the long hall until he reached his bedroom. Opening the door quickly, he heard a gasp as he nearly knocked his uninvited guest over with the door. He stopped instantly when he saw the woman, however. This was not the brunette Anna, but some redhead.

"Okay." He questioned impatiently, "Who are you?"

"I'm Anna." The woman answered with a familiar smirk.

"Why can't I feel your ki?" Trunks questioned.

"You taught me how to hide it, silly." She answered, and Trunks noticed her bright blue eyes again as she added, "You haven't changed much since you left, you know."

"No way…" He muttered, knowing he had only taught one person how to use ki, "Lisa-"

"SHHH!" She quickly told him, gently grabbing him by the jaw to silence him at the same time. Brandishing a small white orb with her free hand, the woman tapped it twice; and sure enough, Lisanna Strauss was standing in front of him, wearing what appeared to be one of her sister's old red dresses.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"You haven't seen me in two years, and that's the first thing you say?" She asked, acting irritated.

"Sorry, I just…"

"Relax, Trunks, you know I'm just playing." She interrupted with a smile before hugging him, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too…" Trunks replied after returning the hug, taking a moment to enjoy the embrace before slowly releasing her as he asked, "How did you get here?"

She held the small white orb out once again before pointing it at a wall. A small white portal appeared where she pointed before it rapidly closed.

"The amplifier works amazingly, Trunks." She explained, "You wouldn't believe some of the things it can do."

"Really?" Trunks questioned.

"You bet." Lisanna answered with a grin, "This little remote here lets me use some of Iga's powers whenever I need to."

"That's the remote?" He asked, remembering how long Iga had been working on it before adding, "So then that disguise magic, that's his?"

His girlfriend nodded.

"But…" Trunks remarked, "The note from the other day said you two weren't going to directly contact me."

"I didn't help write that note." Lisanna stated before adding, "But, um… Iga doesn't know I'm here, not yet anyway."

"You mean you snuck over here?"

She gave him a look that said, "It's complicated."

"Why?" Trunks asked, "I mean, I'm insanely happy to see you; but you could get in a lot of trouble coming here."

"I know, but…" She began as she tried to think of where to begin, "But there's something going on with Iga."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked, intrigued.

"I mean he's been acting weird," She elaborated.

"This is Master Iga we're talking about." Trunks remarked.

"It's not his normal kind of weird, though." She informed him, "He's been acting like he's worried about something, but he won't say why."

"Edo's not up to something, is he?" Trunks asked with concern.

"I don't know." She said with a shrug, "But I'm getting worried. Even after you left, Iga always told me what was going on."

"So he's hiding something." Trunks agreed before questioning, "But what did you think coming here might do? I don't know what's going on in Earthland."

"I know you don't." Lisanna replied, and he could see she was genuinely confused, "I just thought, maybe talking to you might help me think of something. You are the only other good person alive that's known him."

"Yeah." Trunks agreed, sighing before adding, "Look, Lisanna-"

"Save it, please." She interrupted him, "I know I risked a lot coming here. And it was probably really stupid of me, but-"

Trunks cut her off with a kiss, one with immense emotion and passion. She froze before happily returning it, letting him pin her against the wall as she melted into him. Their display of affection was relatively brief, but it was long enough to be interrupted by the noise of a woman's gasp.

"Trunks?!" Bulma said, surprised at the sight. The two instantly jumped apart with bright red faces.

"Hey, um, Mom…" He said, staring at the floor.

"Vegeta, let me deal with this one." He heard his mother say before the bedroom door closed.

"What the hell is going on around here?" She suddenly asked the two angrily, "You had me worried about some possibly dangerous stranger lurking around our home, when clearly she's your girlfriend?!"

"Ms. Briefs, I can explain-" Lisanna tried but was cut off.

"I don't think I need any explanation for what I saw." Bulma remarked with force before glaring back at her son, "And I thought the woman you were looking for had black hair."

"That was me, ma'am." Lisanna replied before her boyfriend could, pulling out the remote and tapping on it. Instantly, the same black-haired woman in a lab coat was standing in place of Lisanna.

"How did you-?" Bulma began to question before guessing, "Is that some kind of hologram?"

The bluenette pulled on the sleeve of the lab coat to find she had guessed wrong.

"No, ma'am." Lisanna said as she changed back to her usual appearance, "It's magic."

"Magic?" Bulma repeated, thinking she was being mocked until remembering, "Wait, you're not from Earthland are you?"

"She is." Trunks answered for her, scratching his left shoulder and looking at the floor bashfully. A nervous silence fell over the room as Bulma tried to figure out what to say next, looking around the room in thought as she did.

"Huh, um… I don't really know where to begin," Bulma admitted, turning to Lisanna, "So… I guess we'll start with who are you and how did you get in my house?"

"Mom," Trunks answered for Lisanna, "This is Lisanna, my girlfriend; and she, uh, teleported here."

"And why am I hearing about her just now?" His mother replied; her tone was a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and annoyance.

"Trunks thought he was never going to see me again." Lisanna defended him, "And I'm guessing it was just too painful to think or talk about; at least, I hope that's the reason he never told his family about me."

"It is." Trunks affirmed quickly and nervously.

"You see, I tried to teleport into Trunks' room; but I messed up the destination." Lisanna explained before looking to Trunks, "You never told me your family has dinosaurs on the main floor!"

Trunks shrugged an apology.

"So you disguised yourself to get around the building, I put that together." Bulma remarked, getting the couple on topic, "But how did you get to the second floor?"

"Oh, that?" Lisanna replied, "That was easy. Watch this."

Bulma watched with amazement as Lisanna turned herself into a tiny and bizarre-looking multicolored mouse.

"I crawled under the doors in one of the stairwells." A squeaky voiced mouse stated before it turned back into Lisanna.

"Showoff." Trunks joked before asking, "Wait, you can use magic here?"

"I asked Iga about that once." Lisanna replied, "He said it was more than likely, but Earth doesn't have a source of ethernano like back home."

"What the heck is 'ethernano'?" Bulma wondered.

"It's the stuff on Earthland that gives wizards their magic." Trunks filled her in before turning to Lisanna, "But if there's none here, that means your magic won't recharge after you use it."

"That's what these are for." Lisanna stated, digging through a pocket before pulling out a small container; inside it were several small pills.

"Master Iga created these things." She continued, "He calls them X-Balls. Apparently, he helped Mystogan make them. Here, try one."

Lisanna opened the container and pulled one of the tiny red spheres out before tossing it to Trunks, who caught it with ease before popping it into his mouth.

"Trunks, wait-" His mother tried to warn him, worried about him taking strange meds; but he did not listen, swallowing it the next instant.

"Wow." Trunks replied as he felt his magic return to him almost instantly, "It worked."

To demonstrate, he held his hands out; and Bulma jumped when her son's hands lit up with red and white flame.

"Awesome! I was worried I'd never get to do this again." Trunks remarked before putting his hands out, "Thanks, Lisanna."

"Don't spend it all in one place." She joked.

"Okay, you two, before I start acting nice I want to know," Bulma chimed in, looking directly at her son, "Why did you think you'd never see her again?"

"Because travelling between universes isn't allowed." Trunks explained, "Whis told me that before he dragged me back here."

"Oh, I see." Bulma replied before adding with a smirk, "Forbidden love, huh?"

"Mom!" Trunks whined while Lisanna giggled.

"Don't 'mom' me, Trunks Briefs." Bulma quipped, "Be happy I'm taking my anger out on you this way."

"Yes, ma'am." Trunks replied nervously, looking at the floor to hide his slightly reddened face. Lisanna giggled at the interaction before Bulma turned to her.

"Well, Lisanna," Bulma offered, "You may be an unexpected guest, but you're still a guest. How would you like to come eat dinner with the family? And don't worry, no one untrustworthy is going to know you were ever here."

"I'd love to, Ms. Briefs." Lisanna accepted.

"Please, call me Bulma. 'Ms. Briefs' makes me feel old. Are you coming, Trunks?"

"Oh, yeah." He replied, realizing he had been standing around watching them as they left his room. As he followed the two, he could not help but think he heard movement coming from his room just as he closed the door. The thought went to the back of his mind when they finally reached the dining room, however. To Trunks' dismay, his father was sitting at the table with his back to them, already chowing down on what appeared to be his eighth bowl of rice.

"Wow." Lisanna remarked as she thought aloud, "So that _is_ where Trunks gets it."

"You better believe it. I've certainly never eaten with that little manners." Bulma half-joked before introducing Lisanna to Trunks' father, "Vegeta, I've got someone you may want to meet."

Vegeta made a noise of disinterest before turning around to see the three standing in front of him.

"Lisanna, this is my husband Vegeta," Bulma said, "And Vegeta, this is Lisanna, your son's girlfriend."

Trunks did not know how to read the expression his father had before he said indifferently, "Good for him."

Lisanna giggled as Vegeta turned his back to them and resumed eating.

"Vegeta!" Bulma scolded, "Where are your manners?! That's not how you treat a guest! Turn around and greet her properly, or else."

Vegeta slowly turned around before muttering, "Welcome, girlfriend of my son."

Bulma ushered Trunks and Lisanna to their seats. Trunks sat on a corner between Lisanna and his father.

"You should forgive Vegeta," Bulma remarked, "Where he's from, the concept of courtesy apparently never existed."

"The Saiyan Planet right?" Lisanna asked, "Trunks told me about it. He said that you're a prince, too."

Vegeta glanced at her as he ate, but he said nothing in response as Bulma passed Trunks and Lisanna their food.

"I'll be right back, you three." Bulma said after giving the couple their food, "Mom and Dad might want to meet you too, and Bulla."

The room was awkwardly quiet after she left until Trunks tried to break the silence.

"So, um, Dad," Trunks began, "Lisanna's a fighter, of sorts."

"How strong are you?" Vegeta questioned her. Trunks was both surprised and not that his father asked her that question.

"I'm sure I'm nowhere near you or Trunks' level," Lisanna replied, "But I'm pretty strong against other humans."

"Hmph." Vegeta remarked as he looked the girl over again, "And how did you manage to travel across a universe?"

"You know she's from Earthland?" Trunks questioned curiously.

"She doesn't live on this planet, otherwise I'd have seen her before." Vegeta pointed out, "Unless what happened in your room earlier was a first time occurrence."

"You saw that, huh?" Trunks replied sheepishly. He was spared from the response when Bulma walked in carrying Bulla.

"Oh, wow." Lisanna remarked as she saw Trunks' sister, "Trunks, she's way cuter than you describe her."

"She's got my looks, fortunately." Bulma remarked before addressing her daughter, "Bulla, this is Lisanna. She's a friend of your brother's."

"Hi, Lisanna!" The little bluenette greeted.

"Where's Grandpa and Grandma?" Trunks wondered aloud.

"Dad's still busy in his lab, and Mom just left to go shopping." His mother answered. She was going to continue talking, but her husband put his last bowl of rice down rather forcefully.

"Trunks." Vegeta addressed his son.

"Yes, father?" Trunks replied, seeing his father stand up.

"You and I need to talk." Vegeta told him before adding sternly, "Now."

"Yes… sir…" Trunks replied nervously before his father led him out the room. Trunks was quiet as he followed his father down the hallway before he suddenly spun on his son, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him against the wall.

"Are you freaking serious, Trunks?!" He questioned his son angrily, "What game are you playing at?! Do you wish for this planet to get destroyed?!"

"No!" Trunks replied quickly, "Dad, I didn't bring her here!"

"Do you realize the dangers she brings with her?"

"I do, Dad." Trunks answered, "I was about to send her away until you and mom interrupted, and it was mom that invited her to dinner!"

"I'm talking about your relationship with her!" Vegeta clarified, "She wouldn't be here at all if she didn't have a reason to be here!"

"I know what you, mean, father." Trunks agreed, "But I can't go back in time and undo falling in love with her, okay?!"

Vegeta was surprised when Trunks shoved his hand away boldly.

"Are you going to tell anyone she's here?" Trunks asked, uncharacteristically taking charge of the conversation, "No, well, then I don't see anything wrong with her eating dinner before she leaves."

"She's leaving, now!" Vegeta argued, "Whether you like it or not!"

"If you even think about touching her…" Trunks warned.

"You forget your place, brat." Vegeta warned him, nearly fuming.

"I never forgot it, father." Trunks remarked.

"Good." Vegeta stated, "Then you will send her away immediately. We don't need any more threats to this planet."

"Why do we have to follow these rules?" Trunks questioned, suddenly unable to stop himself, "Is it just because you're afraid?"

"You know nothing of the people that make these 'rules', and they are not to be played with." Vegeta told his son, "You'd know that if you listened to me!"

"Well, I'm sorry;" Trunks remarked sarcastically, "I guess I got your stubbornness."

"You're testing my patience. And it won't be long before Whis notices her presence." Vegeta warned him, but something in Trunks seemed to snap.

"You know, what?" Trunks finally decided, "I think Lisanna should stay permanently."

"What?!" Vegeta replied, shocked, "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Actually, I think I'm using it for once." Trunks answered, "I want to know why these stupid rules are in place, and I want to know who made them."

"Shut up, right now." Vegeta replied.

"No, Dad, I won't!" Trunks continued, "I'm sick and tired of going about feeling half-empty all the time! Either Lisanna stays, or I go with her. Either way, I'm fine with fighting anyone that wants to say otherwise."

Vegeta stared at his son for a long moment before sighing, "Damnit…"

"She can stay." The Saiyan Prince finally decided, "But if anything or anyone comes to enforce those 'stupid rules', you'll have to pay the price."

"That's fine." Trunks agreed before asking, "Can I go back and eat now, father?"

"Do as you wish." Vegeta replied sourly before turning away. Trunks watched his father turn around before he began to head back for the dining room. He stopped when he heard his father speak one more time.

"Trunks," Vegeta called from over his shoulder, "I may not like the tone you gave me, or the hazards that girl risks on us, but I am proud of you for fighting for what's yours. Just make sure you're not risking everything for nothing."

"I'm know I'm not." Trunks replied, looking at his father's back before seeing him enter an elevator. Trunks took a moment to collect himself before going back into the dining room.

"Everything okay, Trunks?" Bulma asked as her son came back in, "Where's your father at?"

"Everything's fine." Trunks replied, "Dad just went to the GR, I think."

"He wasn't too angry with you, was he?" Lisanna questioned, cutting straight to the point.

"Nah," Trunks half-lied, moving to sit where his father had a few moments ago, "Actually, he said you could stay here for however long you wanted."

"He did?" Bulma and Lisanna both asked, surprised.

"That's right." Trunks affirmed as he reached his seat.

"But what about the rules?" Lisanna questioned.

"Eh," Trunks remarked, "Saiyans are pretty stubborn people. I'm sure whoever made up the rules would understand."

"And what are you going to do if Goten sees her here?" Bulma questioned, "Is he going to be allowed to bring that girl Wendy over here?"

"If he wants." Trunks answered.

"I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me, Trunks." Lisanna stated.

"I will do exactly that if I have to, even if you don't want me to." Trunks replied.

"Trunks…" Lisanna remarked. Bulma watched the exchange with interest, knowing the look on Lisanna's face showed that the argument was not over; but someone else had come to interrupt it.

"Well," A new voice chimed in, making everyone in the room jump, "I guess I just walked in at an interesting time."

"Master?" Trunks questioned as soon as he turned and saw the ever-shirtless redhead standing in the doorway.

"In the flesh." Iga affirmed with a grin as he entered the room. He looked at Lisanna, who averted her eyes to avoid meeting his gaze.

"We'll have a talk later about your hijacking my magic, you little sneak; you're lucky this little reunion's got me in a good mood." He told her before turning to Bulma, "And you must be Trunks' mother, Bulma, right? My name is Iga."

"Mom, this is the guy that saved me back on Earthland." Trunks filled her in, "He's also the one that trained me to use magic. I probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him."

"He's the guy?" Bulma questioned. Trunks, Lisanna, and Iga nodded.

"Well," She said as she approached the redhead, "What would the man that saved my son like in return? I don't know if Trunks told you about our family's wealth, but we-"

"Please, Bulma." Iga interrupted her, "Trunks already repaid that debt threefold. And it wasn't like I helped him out of the kindness of my heart either; I needed his strength. Besides, a guy like me doesn't have a need for much, anyway."

"There has to be something." Bulma replied, "There's always something."

"Ehhh, if you really insist," Iga gave in, "I guess I'll just steal some food and we can call it even."

"You said it like you weren't thinking it in the first place." Trunks joked to his master.

"What?" Iga questioned with a grin, "I'm hungry."

"Before I make your food, Iga," Bulma remarked, "Is there anyone else I should expect to show up in my house?"

"Not that I know of." Iga remarked, grabbing Trunks' bowl of rice and starting to eat it thoughtlessly, "But then again, none of this was expected. Lisanna and I should be on Earthland at the moment, for all our sakes."

"Because you're from another universe, right?" Bulma questioned the man, looking between him and Lisanna as she did, "I didn't know there were rules against that kind of stuff. I mean, since Lord Beerus had just brought us to Universe 6 so casually I figured it wasn't too big of a deal."

"I don't think Lord Beerus cared about the rules." Trunks remarked before adding, "And neither should we."

"No, Trunks." Lisanna argued, "You know how much danger we'll put you in, and how much we're already putting you in."

Bulma and Iga glanced at each other after Trunks impatiently knocked his foot against the right leg of the table.

"I don't care." Trunks insisted, "You can't keep me away again. Either you stay here, or I go back."

"We'll just give you two a moment." Iga suddenly chimed in, preparing to stand up and walk out the room.

"No," Trunks replied quickly and apologetically, "You don't have to do that."

"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Trunks asked his mother, who quickly nodded before watching him stand up with Lisanna and lead her out the room.

"Well," Iga commented to no one, reaching over and grabbing Lisanna's food while Bulma and Bulla stared at the doorway the couple had just walked through, "That was almost awkward."

Trunks and Lisanna did not speak until they were in Trunks' room and the door was closed behind them.

"Trunks…" Lisanna tried to continue arguing, but she stopped when her boyfriend suddenly took both of her hands into his and looked straight into her eyes.

"I'm not leaving you again." He repeated, "And I don't care if someone's going to attack me for it; I'll train so that I'm strong enough to beat them."

"But you could get killed!" She argued back, "Everyone's afraid of whoever made the rules up, and I think there's a reason for that. I don't want to be with you if I know it's going to get you killed!"

"Stop, please." Trunks pleaded with her, taking his hands off hers just to grab her gently by the waist, "This is my decision, too, okay?"

"I'm never letting you leave my sight ever again." Trunks continued, pulling Lisanna closer, "And I won't hear anything else on the subject other than where we're staying tonight."

"We can stay here, or go to Earthland; I don't care, as long as we're both there." Trunks added to further his point, "You'll have to kill me to keep me away, and even that might not be enough."

"You're right about Saiyans and their stubbornness." Lisanna joked with her eyes beginning to water.

"We'll figure out everything as we go, okay?" Trunks asked, using his right hand to wipe Lisanna's tears away, "But you have to promise me you'll never ask me to stay away again."

Lisanna nodded, but that was not good enough for him.

"Lisanna, do you love me?" Trunks questioned rhetorically before adding, "Then promise me it."

There was a brief pause before Lisanna nodded once more and then replied.

"Okay, I promise." She gave in, "But you have to promise me that we're not going to get everyone killed by being selfish."

"We won't, Lisanna, I promise," He quickly agreed, "Because as long as you're with me, I can do anything I put my mind to."

"And that's one of the hundreds of reasons for why I love you." He added to end his response. Lisanna smiled warmly once again in response.

"Just hundreds?" She asked sarcastically, getting a chuckle from Trunks before she moved his lips to his; and the two enjoyed the small moment of pleasure before they separated.

"I may love you with everything I've got, but," She added humorously, "I still don't think that compares to Iga's love for food; and I think my dinner might be in danger sitting in that room with just him, your mom, and your sister."

"We should go save it then." Trunks suggested with a smirk, releasing Lisanna as he added, "Before it meets the same fate as my dinner."

Lisanna moved to open the door before Trunks suddenly grabbed her right hand and pulled her back to him; and the sudden moving only ended when the two were once again in the middle of a passionate kiss, with Lisanna moaning faintly before Trunks pulled away from her and explained his actions.

"Before you ask, that's for putting up with me. Now let's go make sure Master doesn't bankrupt my Mom's company on dining expenses."


	2. Real Chapter 1

Chapter I: The New Game

Trunks, Lisanna, and Iga arrived at the Son homes just after midday. Landing first, Trunks set Lisanna down as soon as his feet touched the ground, and Iga quickly landed just behind them.

"You know, I think I could get used to Earth." Iga remarked as he took in the surroundings, "This whole area, everything's so serene and vibrant; and the people here seem much happier. Plus, there's no death wizard armies tearing up the landscape."

"Frankly," He added before anyone could respond, "I'm surprised your family hasn't put a lodge out here, or something like that."

"Well, my mom's always too busy for long vacations; and I'm sure my dad wouldn't want to stay anywhere near this close to Goku's house." Trunks replied, leading the way to the houses, "Besides, that's what Goten's house is for."

"Yeah, but that's different." the redhead pointed out before questioning, "You do like the idea of living out here, don't you? Then build a house out here. I'm sure Bulma wouldn't mind spending some extra cash."

Trunks gave his master a thoughtful look before the redhead added.

"And I mean, if Lisanna's sticking around," Iga said as he slowly made a grin, "You're gonna want someplace a little more private, am I right?"

Trunks kept looking ahead and pretended to ignore the question while Lisanna giggled at his embarrassment.

"Imagine it," Iga continued, smirking at his successful teasing, "Once everything on Earthland is settled and you're back here, helping run your mom's company and all that; wouldn't it be nice to have a place out here? You could take a week off and spend it out here, away from the busy city life… just you and the girl of your dreams."

"That does sound romantic." Lisanna agreed thoughtfully; but the conversation shifted topic the next moment as the three were now walking onto the front lawn of the Son homes.

"So, Gohan's still dead, right?" Iga questioned bluntly, "When's he planning on coming back?"

"Don't know." Trunks answered with a shrug, "Apparently, he's been trying to get some sort of crazy power-up. No one knows if he's got it yet, but he said he'd tell us when he gets it."

"I hope he gets it soon." Lisanna remarked, "We might need Gohan."

"'Might need' is probably an understatement." Iga agreed before sighing and stopping to look at the Son homes once again.

"Sorry, Trunks," Iga commented at the sight, "But I really like these houses better."

"I'm not surprised." Trunks said with an honest shrug, "City life never sounded like your kinda thing."

"I've tried it, once or twice." Iga informed him before adding, "But those cities were nothing like the one here on Earth. It's pretty impressive how the humans here have built and created all this stuff without magic, really."

"C'mon, you two." Lisanna cut in after a moment, "We're wasting time."

Trunks nodded in response before leading the two to Gohan and Videl's home first, sensing that Goten was in there as well. He knocked on the door before hearing Videl call out, "Door's open, Trunks!"

The demi-Saiyan opened the door slowly before walking through with Iga and Lisanna following.

"We're in here!" Videl called out, and Trunks followed her voice into the kitchen.

"Hey, guys." Trunks greeted as he stepped into the doorway, seeing Goten and Pan helping Videl prepare lunch.

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten said happily while Pan jumped at the older demi-Saiyan to greet him with a hug.

"What's up, Pan?" Trunks asked her with a friendly smile after he returned her hug.

"Uncle 'Ten and I are helping Mama make lunch!" Pan announced eagerly.

"You're helping me?" Videl joked, "I thought you two were going to do the work for me."

"I can, if you want." Goten offered seriously, though he smirked at the joke.

"That would be nice." Videl replied before adding, "Especially since I have some guests to welcome."

Videl exited the kitchen to greet Iga and Lisanna while Trunks remained with Goten and Pan.

"Who'd you bring with you?" Goten asked his friend as he and Pan shoved two more-than-extra-large trays of lasagna into the oven.

"You remember how my sword came back, right?" Trunks asked in response.

"Yeah," Goten replied, "Your teacher Iga sent it back to you."

"That's right." Trunks agreed before saying, "Well, it turns out that Master's magic amplifier works with people too."

"Is Iga in the living room?" Goten asked, cutting to the point.

"And Lisanna." Trunks quickly added.

"Really?" Goten said with surprise before hurrying into the living room.

"Holy cow." Lisanna commented as soon as she saw Goten, "You're, uh, really tall… all of a sudden."

"Yeah," Goten replied with a smile and a scratch of the back of his head, "I get that a lot."

Lisanna walked up to the younger demi-Saiyan and hugged him as he happily returned the greeting. Goten quickly released her before facing Iga.

"And you're the guy with all the crazy magic, right?" Goten asked the man.

"Well, I don't know if I have any magic dealing with insanity;" Iga joked before replying, "But if you mean crazy awesome magic, then that's me."

"And how did you get all those scars?" Goten asked, intrigued.

"Ex-girlfriends, mostly." Iga answered dismissively with a sly grin.

"I see why you stayed with this guy for a year, Trunks." Videl commented with a smirk, "He's good for a joke."

"Li-chan!" Pan cheered as she ran through the doorway and into Lisanna, actually managing to stumble her from the force.

"Hey, Pan." Lisanna said, slightly weak as she recovered some of her breath, "I see someone's been getting strong."

"I fly around the entire world lots of times for practice." Pan informed her friend.

"You gotta watch out for Pan, here." Goten chimed in with a grin, "She's pretty smart too."

"I'd bet." Iga agreed with a nod, "Knowing her father, I'd expect nothing less; and by the way, I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help him… back then."

"It's fine, really." Videl replied, watching Iga wipe some sweat off his forehead before questioning him, "I'm guessing it's your magic that got you and Lisanna here?"

"It was," Iga affirmed, "Though it's not as straightforward as you describe it."

"Hey," Lisanna quipped, "You admitted that you'd been scheming this entire trip for a while now; you just didn't want to be the first one to break the rules."

"What can I say?" Iga remarked with a smirk, "I gotta maintain an image."

"And what have we been 'scheming' for this trip?" Videl questioned curiously.

"Oh, nothing serious, really." Iga said nonchalantly, "Just some outright rebellion against the powers that be."

"And who would these 'powers' be exactly?" Videl asked, slightly puzzled.

"No clue." Iga said with a shrug, "But they're the guys Gods of Destruction and the Kais are afraid of, so there's a hint for you."

"Wait," Goten cut in, "You're planning on taking on people stronger than guys like Beerus?"

"Maybe even Whis." Trunks added begrudgingly.

"But none of you have god powers." Videl remarked skeptically.

"Actually, I do; it's just not a Saiyan thing." Iga informed her, "And Trunks has my magic."

Trunks lit his hands aflame the same way he had yesterday in front of his mother.

"So you CAN use your magic here?" Goten asked, surprised. Trunks nodded as the flames in his hands went out.

"You knew he had magic?" Videl asked Goten, who shrugged at her before she got back to her point, "Anyway, that makes one and a half fighters."

"And how many Saiyans are on this planet?" Iga questioned, "Six?"

"Until Gohan comes back." Videl affirmed.

"Great." Iga stated happily as he laid out his plan, "All we've got to do is get them together and make Trunks and Goten gods."

"I think this is where my dad would complain about a 'Super Saiyan Bargain Sale'." Trunks remarked.

"Maybe," Iga agreed, "But this time we're selling limited edition Saiyans."

"All Saiyans are limited edition." Videl reminded him.

"Fine." Iga said with a roll of his eyes, "We're selling deluxe Saiyans. Doesn't sound as cool as limited edition, though, does it?"

"I'm still trying to figure out what we're selling." Goten chimed in, confused.

"Okay," Trunks said, holding his forehead in his right hand out of embarrassed frustration, "Master, can we focus?"

"Sorry, I'm just in a good mood." Iga replied, "Anyway, we should probably get this part of the plan done quickly so we can jump to phase two."

"What's phase two?" Goten asked, intrigued.

"Train like hell until someone shows up to kill either one or all of us." Iga said flatly.

"That's not much of a plan." Videl remarked.

"Sounds easy enough for me." Goten declared, thinking there was no way he was going to say "no" to becoming a Super Saiyan God.

"I'd offer using my magic to find our enemy," Iga explained, "But I have no clue where to start the search. The best I can do at the moment is try to make some kind of early warning system. With hard training and a bit of luck, it could work."

"After we beat whoever these people are," Trunks said with conviction, "We could bring anyone from Earthland back here without trouble, or the other way around."

"But we shouldn't do that before we're done." Iga reminded his student, "Bringing anymore people over may attract unwanted attention, not to mention the possibility of getting them murdered... My magic has a good number of stealth abilities, but I've only been able to give Trunks' lacrima and Lisanna's remote my magic. And if Lisanna would loan her remote to someone else it would be pointless, because if there is someone or something watching us; it'll see Lisanna the moment my magic stops protecting her. I could make some more remotes, but that'd take way too long; and if I'm honest, I think I need the time to train."

"I'm sorry, Goten." Trunks apologized to his friend immediately, "But Wendy can't come here until it's safe."

"Don't worry." Goten said with a reassuring smile, "I figured that out by now. And we're fighting so that I can go back to her, right? That's all I need to know."

After a having a very long conversation on the subject, the group heard the oven timer ring.

"Finally!" Goten cheered as he hurried into the kitchen with his niece, "All this thinking's made me hungry."

Videl could see Iga's nostrils flaring as he enjoyed the smell of the food before she could even offer him any.

"Lunch, anybody?" She offered; and the entire group were lounging in the living room within a few minutes, eating and continuing to discuss their situation.

"Master," Trunks questioned after he finished his fourth plate, "Do you really think my dad's going to help us become gods? I remember how much he hated helping Gohan…"

"I'm sure we'll be able to talk him into it." Iga assured him, practically pouring lasagna into his mouth before adding with his mouth full, "We've got a knack for that kinda thing."

"I'm not sure I understood that." Videl remarked humorously, getting a light giggle from Lisanna before Trunks continued his conversation.

"But Dad reached his God form without the ritual," Trunks reminded Iga, "You know he's going to look down on me if I don't do the same."

"We might not have the time for that, Trunks." Iga argued, "And if Vegeta's got a problem with doing the ritual, he's going to have to get over it."

"I guess." Trunks gave in with a sigh, "I'm just not looking forward to that conversation."

"Well, you may want to get ready for it," The redhead replied, slowly standing up as he did, "Because I'm about to start rounding up our Saiyans."

A portal appeared on the front door before Trunks nearly stuttered as he made a plea.

"But Master," He asked, slightly nervous, "Can we at least wait to get my dad until after we're done eating?"

"Relax, I'm not going to your house first." Iga replied before walking all the way through the portal. Next thing anyone knew, Goku and Uub were standing by the front door.

"Hey, guys." Goku greeted them happily, "Where's lunch at?"

"Is that how he got you to come here?" Videl asked her father-in-law, shaking her head when he nodded with a grin.

"I just wanted to see this god ritual." Uub told everyone.

"It is pretty cool." Goten told him as Iga reappeared.

"Two left." The redhead counted down as he glanced to Trunks, "You finished eating yet?"

"I guess." Trunks sighed before slowly standing up and walking over to his master, "Let's get this over with."

"Don't be so sad, Trunks." Iga remarked as a new portal opened behind him, "I've got a plan for dealing with your dad."

On Earthland, in The Shadow of the World…

Edo kicked Orga aside with ease before side-stepping a punch from Zancrow. With a wave of his hand, Edo forced the two to slam face first into each other before Cel launched her attack at him, firing multiple rocks at her Master. Edo elected to swat the projectiles rather than use his magic to dodge it, doing so before appearing in front of her and punching her in the stomach. Cel had changed her body to rock just before the impact, but she still doubled over in pain from the hit. Edo paused the fight to see Zancrow and Orga rubbing their foreheads while Cel regained her footing.

"You three are still too weak," He informed them before appearing in front of Orga, kicking him in the center of his chest to knock him onto his back before adding, "And you're too slow."

Zancrow tried to retaliate with a Bellow, but Edo hit him in the face with a black ball of energy before he could finish the call out.

"Don't rely on your magic." Edo instructed, appearing behind Cel and throwing her at Orga as he continued his lecture, "It gives you an edge; but it's your strength that will win the fight."

Orga was sitting up just as Cel struck him, and he fell over as Cel bounced off and past him. Zancrow just recovered his bearings when Edo reappeared in front of him. He was quick enough to dodge the first punch his Master threw at him, but he was not able to avoid the attack from his Master's other hand, which was a ki blast aimed for his stomach. The explosion sent Zancrow rolling backwards as Orga and Cel launched at Edo's back. He appeared between them mid-charge and landed simultaneous punches to the side of their heads, sending them flying past him a different angles.

"None of you now could beat the Gohan from a year ago." Edo informed the three as they slowly got up, "And you call yourselves God Slayers? We're done for now."

Edo deactivated his magic, and the room returned to its normal size.

"I want you three training constantly." He ordered them, "Unless I say otherwise, your daily routine will consist of eating, fighting, and sleeping."

"Yes, Master." Orga and Zancrow replied together.

"I'm not going to complain." Cel remarked before adding with a grin, "As long as my sleeping arrangements aren't changing, that is."

Edo ignored the remark, turning to Zancrow before speaking, "I want you to focus on your ki control. Out of the three of you, you seem to have the most potential in that regard."

"I will." Zancrow replied before adding with a slight bow, "Thank you, Master."

"Orga," Edo instructed, "Get faster. All that raw strength means nothing if you can't hit your enemy."

The Lightning God Slayer bowed his head and grunted affirmatively.

"And me?" Cel questioned with a mischievous grin, "What would the great Edo want from me?"

"Everything." Edo answered cryptically before looking back to Orga and Zancrow, "Leave us."

The two quickly obeyed, walking through one of the walls as they disappeared.

"Everything, huh?" Cel questioned seductively, stepping only inches away from Edo and running a finger over his chest, "So where does 'everything' begin?"

She was eyeing his muscles under his skin-tight clothing before Edo moved her hand aside.

"Not now." He said coolly, "You and I are going to fight first."

"Sparring here and then sparring in the sheets?" Cel questioned, "Just say when."

"Focus." He scolded her, seeing the smirk finally leave her face, "This may be a game we're playing, but the stakes are not trivial. Your biggest issue is your apathy towards this whole affair."

"It sounds like you're worried about me." Cel remarked before adding, "If that were even possible."

"It's not." Edo said coldly, "And I've never once concealed the fact that you, Zancrow, and Orga are just means to an end. That being said, if one of the key components to my plan seems incapable of handling the task ahead of her; she can easily be returned to the mountain range in which I found her. I'll have no problem creating a replacement."

Cel was silent as she listened to him, getting slightly angered by the threat.

"I didn't bring you here for companionship." Edo continued, "I brought you here because of your strength and skill. I'd say your intelligence, too; but you've not once genuinely put your mind to this."

"And how would you know that?" She questioned, irritated.

"You're pulling some of your attacks against me." Edo stated, "Whether or not you notice, you exert more strength when you fight Zancrow or Orga than when you spar with me. Is this possibly because you're growing too attached to me?"

"I-" She began to argue, but he cut her off.

"I don't care one way or the other about your feelings toward me, but your training will be less effective if you don't use all your strength. Are we clear?"

"Yes…" Cel replied, slightly sour, "Master."

"Good. Hopefully, we'll be ready when round one of our new game with Igneel's champion begins." Edo declared before shifting into a fighting stance, "Now prepare yourself; I do not plan on making this enjoyable."

At Capsule Corporation…

Vegeta slowly landed on the floor of the GR before quickly turning the machine off with his right hand while his left hand wiped sweat off his forehead.

"Phew…" A stranger's voice suddenly made Vegeta whirl around in surprise, "Quite a workout, right?"

"Who the hell are you?!" The Saiyan Prince quickly demanded, seeing a shirtless red-haired man standing in front of him. Vegeta raised a palm at the grinning stranger, who quickly raised his hands defensively.

"Whoa, hold up, Vegeta." The redhead calmly replied, "I'm a friend."

Otherworld, an hour or so later…

Iga emerged from his portal on a nearby tree, looking around as he tried to determine his exact location. He could hear the sounds of explosions in the vicinity, and he turned around to see two orange blurs fighting each other. When he noticed both the fighters had halos over their head; he smirked to himself thinking, _I can't believe this still works!_

The fighters must have noticed Iga's presence, and they both stopped for Iga to see two different Gohan's greeting him. Before he could ask which one was the real Son Gohan, the two joined together back into one.

"What's up, Igneel?" Gohan asked as the redhead approached.

"Just came to check in on everyone's favorite dead guy." Iga remarked before informing him, "Everything's going just as we planned it. Earth'll have two more gods on it in a matter of hours."

"That's a start, I guess." Gohan replied as he thought, "Though Trunks and Goten need to go beyond Super Saiyan God if we even plan on beating Cerberus."

"I'm still not sure we should even be attempting this." Iga admitted honestly, "I mean, there's a reason why guys like him have been around for so long."

"I know," Gohan agreed with a sigh, "But I've got too many people counting on me to back down now. And it's only a matter of time until Edo gets impatient."

"Speaking of Cerberus…" Supreme Kai finally chimed in, "Um, he's not going to be too happy about a living being, who's not a Kai, visiting Otherworld whenever they want. You should probably hurry out of here before something happens."

"I guess." Iga remarked with a grin, "But I'll admit I'm half tempted to sit right here and wait for that something to happen. At least we'd know some of these stories from the Kais are real, then. And I'd get to see what Gohan's capable of…"

"I'd rather not," Supreme Kai stated, "At least, not on my planet, please."

"I hear 'ya." Iga said with a dismissive wave of his right hand, opening a portal at the same time, "I just wanted to keep my friend updated. Gohan, how much longer do you think we'll need before we're anywhere near ready?"

"Well, in terms of strength; I'm definitely ready." Gohan answered thoughtfully, "But I wanted to finish learning a few tricks before we do anything, so I could use a little more time… a year, at worst."

"Hey, that sounds good to me." Iga commented, "These kids are going to need all the time they can get."

A few months later…

Son Goten woke up slowly, wishing he could stay in his dream before curling under his blanket and attempting to go back to sleep. Images of his dream flashed in his eyelids, and he suddenly realized he was not able to sleep as he recalled the dream.

 _I'll get there, Wendy, I promised I did._ He thought, wishing the girl of his dreams could read his mind from a universe away. He made an exhausted sigh before sitting up and stretching.

 _At least the nightmares haven't come back._ He said to himself as he reflected on his dream. Seeing Lisanna here on Earth with Trunks had caused some of the emotions he had settled about Wendy to return; and in the past months, Goten's dreams almost always had Wendy in them. Most of them were altered images of his memories with her; but some of them were new manifestations of his desires, no doubt. He had all sorts of dreams about that girl, but the nightmares about losing her had not returned. He guessed that the hope he was finding through his training and his friends' optimism were helping.

As he was thinking, he glanced over at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was already one in the afternoon. It was odd that he had slept through breakfast, but it was odder that his mother or anyone else had not woken him up yet. Suddenly realizing that Trunks had probably been sitting around at their training spot waiting for him, he hurriedly grabbed a clean dogi and got dressed as fast as possible. As soon as he left his room, he noticed his mother was not in the house. Figuring that she must be out running errands or something, he shrugged his confusion aside and opened the fridge after entering the kitchen. Finding a leftover sandwich, he grabbed it and chowed down on it as he closed the fridge and exited the house. He glanced over to Videl and Gohan's home to observe that no one seemed to be there also. Finally deciding something was off, Goten used his ki sense to learn that everyone was in West City.

 _That's weird._ He thought to himself as he slowly floated into the air, _What's going on at Trunks' place?_

Eager to investigate, he shot into the sky and made his way to Capsule Corp., stopping when he saw news reporters and paparazzi at the building's entrance. Knowing he had to get out of the air, he quickly found an empty street and landed on the sidewalk before walking the rest of the way to C.C.

Ignoring comments on his familiarity from the reporters as they got out of his way, Goten walked through the front doors and smiled at the young woman behind the front desk.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Son." The woman greeted him.

"A lot of them came by today, huh?" He joked, gesturing to the doors, "I could barely get inside."

"Someone must have told the media Ms. Briefs was holding some kind of social event today." The receptionist guessed, "They get like that when they think they'll see more than one celebrity."

"Is Bulma throwing some kind of party?" Goten wondered aloud, trying to figure out why he was not invited. The woman nodded.

"They're all in the atrium right now." She informed him.

"Thanks," He said amiably before turning to head for the atrium, stopping when he realized he had another question, "Wait… You're new here, aren't you?"

"I am, sir." The girl replied, slightly nervous, wondering if she had done something wrong, "But… how did you know?"

"It's because everyone here just calls me Goten." He stated.

"Oh." The girl replied, relieved that her only error was being too respectful, "That's a relief. Usually I'm kind of an airhead, so I thought I had done something wrong."

"Nah, you're doing fine." He assured her, and she smiled back at him, "What's your name, anyway?"

"Valese."

"That's a nice name." He complimented honestly, "It's nice to meet you, Valese."

"Thank you, and it was nice meeting you too, Goten." She said, sounding slightly awkward in her informality, "I'll let Ms. Briefs know you're coming."

Goten thanked her and walked away as Valese watched him until he was out of sight.

The interaction had almost distracted Goten from the mystery at hand; but everything finally made sense once he reached the massive room.

"Surprise!" An entire crowd cheered upon seeing him. His mother rushed out of the group and hugged him.

"Happy birthday, son!" She told him as he returned the hug.

"Thanks, Mom." He replied, smiling past her at the rest of the group.

"About time you showed up!" Trunks joked from the front of the group, "We were about to start eating without you."

"What are you talking about?" Iga questioned from across the crowd, and Goten saw the shirtless man stuffing food in his face near one of the buffet tables, "I've been eating since I got here!"

Goten smirked at the man before seeing Pan come flying through the dispersing crowd to hug him.

"Happy birthday, Uncle 'Ten!" She cheered as Goten caught her.

"Thanks, Pan." He replied, taking note of how strong her hug was, "Jeez, you're training's really paying off, huh?"

"Yup!" Pan answered with a proud nod.

"You're gonna have to be careful with the hugs soon," He half-joked as Videl approached them, "Get any stronger, and you'll be dangerous."

"She's already dangerous." Videl remarked as she greeted Goten, "I used to not understand why Gohan spoiled her so much; but she's very persuasive. Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks Sis." He said as Pan stood next to him, "I'm guessing you helped plan this?"

"Me, your mother, and Bulma." Videl affirmed, "But it was actually Trunks' idea."

"Really?" Goten asked with interest, though not surprised.

"That's what Bulma said." Krillin chimed in as he walked up from behind Goten, "How old are you now?"

"Seventeen." Goten answered.

"Dang…" Krillin remarked with a weak laugh, "I'm getting old."

"I couldn't tell." Goten said politely.

"You're a bad liar, just like your dad." Krillin reminded him, shaking his head in amusement at the demi-Saiyan before adding after he glanced across the room, "Anyway, happy birthday, Goten. I can see that my wife needs me."

"Thanks, Krillin." Goten replied before Krillin returned to his family.

"It looks like everybody came." Goten observed to Videl as he looked around the atrium.

"Pretty much." She agreed before Trunks and Iga approached them.

"Your dad and Uub wished you a happy birthday." The redhead informed Goten, "I dropped by to see if they could make it, but they were kinda busy. Goku says he'll drop by later, though."

"Thanks, Iga." Goten told the immortal.

"Grampa G is coming?" Pan asked excitedly while Goten turned to his best friend.

"Videl told me this was your idea." He said gratefully.

"I guess it was." Trunks answered with a shrug, "I did suggest a surprise party, but I didn't think everyone was going to get invited."

"You know Bulma," Chi Chi remarked to the group, "I don't think she's ever thought small in her life."

"Where is she, by the way?" Goten asked them, "I haven't seen her or Lisanna."

"Mom's trying to deal with the reporters outside." Trunks answered, "And Lisanna's taken Bra to the bathroom."

"You should get something to eat, son." Chi Chi suggested before Goten could reply to Trunks, "I'm sure you're hungry since you slept through breakfast."

"Now that you mention it…" Goten agreed, suddenly remembering his stomach was empty. The group around him laughed as he made a beeline for the food.

An hour later, after eating cake with almost everyone, Goten decided to walk around and mingle with the partiers. He found Piccolo resting near some shrubs as Dende conversed with him until he saw the demi-Saiyan approach.

"Hi, Goten." The younger Namekian greeted him, "It's been a while. How's your training going? I've been too busy to see for myself."

"Pretty good, I think." Goten replied honestly.

"I heard some of Trunks' plan," Dende informed him before adding with a hint of concern, "Are you sure it's a smart move? I mean, you don't even know who you are planning to fight."

"You're probably right." Goten admitted seriously, "But I've got a promise to keep."

"I understand that," Dende expanded on his point, "But, I think Wendy would rather you break your promise than risk your life."

"Maybe," Goten conceded, "But Wendy's not the one that gets to decide what I'll risk my life for."

"You're not going to talk him out of his plans, Dende." Piccolo told Earth's guardian, "He's a Saiyan."

"That's right." Goten agreed with Piccolo before questioning the two, "You guys don't happen to know anything about our enemy, do you?"

"About them?" Dende replied, "I'm afraid not. Back on Namek, there were tons of old legends and myths that the elders passed on; but it's been so long, I can't even remember some of my favorite ones."

"I heard a rumor once." Piccolo said, surprising the two before correcting himself, "When I wasn't whole, Kami travelled between here and Otherworld a few times. The rumor spoke of a guard dog, one that removes the living from Otherworld and sends the dead back if they ever leave without permission. I do not remember if Kami had ever learned the name of this being, whatever he is."

"Where's Goten at?" the group heard from a decent distance behind Goten, and the demi-Saiyan turned to see Bulma pointing him out to Videl. The three watched as Videl walked over to them.

"Hello, Videl." Dende greeted her politely before adding, "You, Bulma, and Chi Chi really did a great job planning this."

"Thanks, Dende." Videl replied before turning to Goten, "Iga says he needs to talk to you and Trunks after people start leaving."

"Okay." Goten replied before he looked at Piccolo with a thought, "Hey, Piccolo?"

"What?" The older Namekian replied.

"It's true you trained Gohan, right?" Goten questioned, "Like, a long time ago?"

"It is." Piccolo answered, wondering where the conversation was going.

"So," Goten asked curiously, "Why haven't you trained Pan yet?"

"I'm not good with children." Piccolo replied quickly.

"Liar." Videl called him out, making Dende laugh at Piccolo's sour expression before turning to Goten, "You know, Goten, that might be a really good idea. I know Gohan would be more than okay with it."

"Maybe I should run the idea by Pan." Videl remarked before Piccolo could respond, "See what she thinks about it…"

"Fine." Piccolo surrendered, "I'll consider training her."

"Thank you, Piccolo." Videl said, playfully and gratefully at the same time.

"Hey, Goten!" The group heard Trunks call out from another area of the atrium, "Get over here!"

Goten hurried to the voice to find Trunks, Lisanna, Iga, Bulma, Bulla, Yamcha, Pu'ar, and Pan all sitting together by a large table.

"Hey, bro, what do you say we give these folks a show?" Trunks questioned his best friend as he neared the group, "We haven't had our sparring match yet."

"Sure." Goten agreed almost immediately with a grin, "I've been itching to do some kind of training today."

"You two are not going to fight in here." Bulma told them pointedly.

"Come on, Mom." Trunks pleaded with her, "The atrium's big enough, and we can't go outside with everyone because of the press."

"We won't even go Blue." Goten tacked on some concessions, "And we'll avoid explosions."

Bulma looked between the two and found it hard to resist their pleading expressions.

"Fine." Bulma gave in, pointing a finger at Goten, "Consider it your birthday present from me. And if you break anything…"

"We won't, Mom." Trunks assured her.

"Hey, guys!" Yamcha called out to the rest of the party, "Goten and Trunks are about to fight!"

"This ought to be interesting." Iga commented as Bulma had some of the C.C. employees rearrange and secure the party's furniture and food so nothing would be destroyed accidentally. Even Vegeta, who had been silently hiding from the rest of the party, came out of his secluded section of the atrium to watch.

"What do you think, Trunks?" Goten asked as the two walked to the center of the atrium, "Do we start at half, or should we just go all out?"

"We should probably warm up first." Trunks answered as he thought, "But we can get to the fun part quickly if you want."

"Sounds good to me." Goten replied as he stretched, "Just don't be mad when I beat you in front of everyone."

"Keeping dreaming, Goten. And don't think I'm going to let you win because it's your birthday." Trunks quipped, matching his friend's grin. The two took fighting stances at the last moment of preparation. The next instant, the two rushed each other, kicking off the newest bit of entertainment for the party.

Somewhere very far from Earth…

"The mortals are starting to irritate me." A male voice stated, "They think this is some game they can just decide to play."

"They are fools for thinking they can test us," A female voice added, "Though it's clear they are no fools when it comes to combat."

"Universe Seven always seemed to create the most problem children." Another male voice remarked.

"It was Universe 8 that started this." A new female voice reminded the group.

"The Saiyans of Seven were going to challenge us eventually." A third male voice declared, "8 just accelerated the process."

"Of all the things I've heard," A third female voice chimed in, "The way these Saiyans speak of us is most amusing. And they know of you, Cerberus."

"The Kais must have said something." The first voice replied.

"Must have?" The second voice remarked, "You've let your little legend do most of your work for you. Of course the Kais spoke of you."

"Hmph." The third laughed to himself, "The most feared, yet the weakest."

"But not so weak that the mortals could defeat me." The first said confidently.

"The dead one could." The fourth pointed out, "Very easily."

"To think that a mortal would ever attain that sort of power…" The fifth said, mostly to himself.

"It's incredible, but not unheard of." The sixth replied.

"Incredible or not," the first decided, "These mortals must be shown their place. If word of their existence reaches Cry-"

"Do not speak its name, you fool!" The third scolded the first, "You know what comes of those that forget to show it the respect it deserves."

"You know what I think?" the fifth thought aloud, "If Cerberus is so anxious to rid us of these pests, let's let him. We'll give them a taste of our might, and perhaps no other action will need to be taken."

"I'll do it." The first agreed.

"I see no issue with it." The second affirmed.

"If it'll make my job easier, I'm all for it." The third remarked.

"It has been nearly a millennium since such an event has occurred," The fourth stated, sighing before adding, "But perhaps it was time for this."

"Sounds good to me." The sixth concluded.

"It's settled then." The first declared, "I will go to Earth 7 and challenge them."

"Cerberus," the third warned the first as he moved to leave, "Speak nothing of its existence to the mortals. Slipping up here amongst us would warrant your demise; say that name in their presence, and you will wish it would destroy you."

"IT has done nothing for millennia, unlike ourselves." Cerberus remarked as his image began to fade away, "Relax, my friends, I will end this debacle today."

Back at Capsule Corp, a few minutes later…

Trunks and Goten easily dodged and blocked each other's attacks as they darted around the atrium. The fight was an even match since both demi-Saiyans were so familiar with each other's tactics. The moment one made a move, the other would know how to counter it almost instantly; and the majority of crowd on the ground of the atrium watched with awe as the fight dragged on. The fight had carried on for at least ten minutes before they paused it, landing in front the crowd as they stared at each other.

"Go Uncle 'Ten!" Pan shouted from her seat on her mother's shoulders.

The two fighters glanced at their audience before smirking at each other.

"You gonna give up, Goten?" Trunks asked his friend confidently.

"You wish." Goten answered, "I'm just about to win; why would I give up?"

Trunks was going to respond when an explosion shook the building.

"What the heck was that?!" Bulma shouted, thinking some accident must have occurred in the labs. Vegeta, Iga, Trunks, and Goten froze as they felt where the disturbance came from while everyone else stood puzzled.

"They better not have destroyed something important." The older bluenette continued as she moved to investigate, but stopped when Vegeta appeared next to her and grabbed her by the arm.

"Stay, woman." Vegeta told her quickly, "That was not an accident."

Before Bulma could ask her husband what he meant, another shockwave rattled the building.

"That's coming from the front of the building…" Videl told the group with some concern, "There are people out there!"

"Trunks, Goten, Vegeta; let's go!" Iga shouted to the three as he hurried for the front exit, "Everyone else stay here!"

The three Saiyans followed him without a word, stopping suddenly when Iga blocked them from the front doors of the building.

"What is this?" Vegeta demanded from the redhead, "Get out of my way!"

"You feel that power out there, Vegeta." Iga replied to the man, "You know what's waiting out there."

"What are you talking about, Master?" Trunks questioned.

"It's one of them." Iga answered.

"Them?" Goten replied, "You mean the guys we've been training to fight?"

"They found us?" Trunks asked.

"Sort of." Iga said apologetically.

"Sort of?" Goten repeated.

"You led them to us." Vegeta quickly figured the man out, "Why?"

"Because we're ready." The immortal answered, "And Gohan said to."

"Gohan?" Goten said, puzzled, "You've been talking with Gohan?"

Iga nodded before speaking, "That's right."

"Was it his idea to lure them here?" Vegeta questioned, clearly irritated.

"We thought of it at about the same time, actually." Iga explained.

"You don't think you could have warned us?" Trunks commented, also annoyed.

"I was going to, after the party." Iga said honestly, trying his best to avoid smirking at seeing Trunks and Vegeta's matching irritated expressions, "We weren't sure when they would come after us, though. I'm just as surprised as you are that they showed up so soon after I removed my cloaking."

"Yeah," Goten recollected, "And I thought your magic would have given us some kind of warning."

"Apparently not." Iga pointed out. None of the group noticed Lisanna and Videl hiding in the lobby, having left their children with their families to keep an eye on the Saiyans.

"Come on out, you four!" a male stranger's deep voice boomed from outside, "I can sense you, sitting there by the door."

"I guess we should go meet this guy." Trunks suggested as he gathered himself, "Before he blows up the entrance."

Goten was about to shove the door open when Iga blocked him again.

"This is your last chance, guys." He warned the three, "Once you challenge this guy, there's no turning back. I can still take Lisanna back right now, before anyone will get hurt."

"Quit wasting our time, Master." Trunks replied, "We've spent too much of it preparing just for this. And I'm not giving up after all that work."

"And I'm not stopping until I see Wendy." Goten chimed in, calmly yet forcefully, "I've been waiting forever for this."

Lisanna and Videl watched as the four stepped outside.

"Should we tell everyone what's happening?" Lisanna wondered, trying to avoid overly worrying about Trunks at the moment.

"It couldn't hurt to warn them." Videl replied, "But you go do that."

"What are you going to do?" Lisanna questioned her friend.

"I'm going to get Goku and then some Senzu beans." Videl answered, "I'm getting the feeling that we might need them."

Lisanna nodded and turned to run to the party when Videl grabbed her arm.

"Lisanna," She warned the girl, "Whatever happens, you have to stay hidden. We don't know what will happen if this guy sees you."

"I will." Lisanna promised before the two parted, each hurrying to accomplish their tasks.

Vegeta, Iga, Trunks, and Goten stepped outside to see two massive holes in the street. Looking closer at one of the craters, Trunks saw a news van burning in its center.

"Don't worry." The voice said from above and behind them, "I didn't hurt the annoying ones; I just scared them off."

Turning around, the four saw a humanoid, black-fur feline standing atop the arched entrance of C.C. The clearly muscular threat wore nothing but some black boots and a set of dark green, baggy pants that matched his eye color. His right ear twitched as he looked at the four, and his tail swayed slowly behind his head as he formed his first impressions of them.

"No, that's not fair to them." The creature corrected himself, "You four are the annoying ones. Those mortals were simply doing their job; they know their place, at least."

"Especially you, redhead." The cat called Iga out, pointing at him with his tail and right index finger, "Ignoring my reign with zero respect."

"It's kinda hard to respect something when no one's even sure it exists." Iga argued before asking, "You must be Cerberus."

"I was told you had learned my name." Cerberus replied, "Which Kai remembered my legend? Which demon in Hell? Actually, I don't care. What I do care about, however, is the mockery you have made of me."

"I haven't made fun of you yet." Iga replied before adding, "But you may want to check with whoever passes along your, um, 'legend'. For some reason, people have started calling you a guard dog; but I mean, clearly, you're a cat."

"Why do people call him a guard dog?" Goten asked Iga.

"Because the moniker best describes my job." Cerberus explained, "I am Cerberus, Keeper of Death. My job is to remind the dead to stay in Otherworld; and if the living decide they wish to visit the dead, I make sure they get to visit permanently. It has been a long time since I've actually had to do my job, though."

"Because it's pointless!" Goten told him, "Almost no one knows that Otherworld is a place you can physically go to, and the ones that do haven't broken your rules."

"Until you decided to break all of them entirely." Cerberus remarked.

"The rules are stupid!" Goten yelled back. Cerberus shook his head at him.

"You fools no nothing of the 'rules'." The feline replied, playing with the claw on the end of his left middle finger with his left thumb, "To say there are things beyond your understanding is an understatement."

"Then why don't you try explaining things to us?" Trunks stated, "If you and whoever else put these rules in place for a reason, just say it."

"It's not a mortal's place to understand." Cerberus replied condescendingly, "It's a mortal's place to obey."

"I've always been told the worst leaders use the 'because I said so' line." Trunks insulted the feline.

"I'm not a mortal." Iga informed Cerberus, "So how about you tell me what's up?"

"You and I are nothing alike." Cerberus told the redhead.

"Clearly." Iga remarked humorlessly before questioning, "So, what comes next, Cerberus?"

"First," the Keeper answered, "I'm going to exercise the last of my patience. Return yourself and the girl back to where you belong; and I won't kill the both of you."

"You won't touch either of them." Trunks told Cerberus angrily.

"I will do as I please, mortal." Cerberus replied flatly, "Surely you've sensed the power that stands before you."

"You don't scare me." Goten quipped.

"Only one of you four seems to have any wisdom." Cerberus commented, looking to Vegeta, "You've been trying to find my weaknesses from the moment you saw me, and you've had enough respect to avoid insulting me."

"Perhaps you should tell these children how it is." The feline suggested to the older Saiyan, "You should tell them the futility of their efforts."

"Perhaps." Vegeta spoke for the first time in a while, "But I also know a few things about you; and you're too pathetic to listen to."

"Insulting me is the worst mistake you've ever made, mortal." Cerberus stated, glaring scornfully at the Saiyan, "For that, you will die last; and you won't be able to save your son, no matter how hard you try.

"But the question remains," Cerberus continued as he looked over his four enemies and met each of their gazes before adding, "Which one of you dies first?"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter II: Rebellion

"No one's going to die." Son Goten told the black-furred feline, "Not if I can help it."

"If you truly wished that," Cerberus remarked, "You would not be encouraging this childish resistance."

"But why?" Goten questioned in response, "Why do we even have to deal with you?"

"That's either a very interesting question, or a very dumb one." Cerberus commented, "What exactly do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you coming after us?" Goten explained, "You're job is to watch over dead people, right? Why do you care if someone from another universe lives here? I mean, they're still alive; so they're not really your problem unless they go to Otherworld, right?"

"If we Keepers worked solitarily, you would be correct." Cerberus replied, "But we do not work that way. If you are a problem for one of the Keepers, you are a problem for the others as well. Besides, I don't think you intend to let me exact a punishment on your redheaded friend, do you? Because he is most certainly my problem."

Cerberus looked at Goten curiously as the young man began to stretch.

"Yeah… you're probably right; but… all this talking is cooling me off." Goten remarked with a grin, "A fight with you might be just what I need to get fired up again."

"A fight with someone like me will result in your demise." Cerberus warned him, "Do not make me waste my time."

"Oh, I won't, I promise." Goten said confidently, powering up slightly to show he was serious.

"Goten, maybe we should let my Dad or Master handle this guy." Trunks suggested, slightly concerned, "We're not at a hundred percent right now."

"Don't worry about it, Trunks." Goten reassured his friend, "I barely even broke a sweat sparring. I can take this guy."

"You will regret those words, mortal." Cerberus stated, meeting Goten's gaze before pointing upward. Goten understood the gesture as he watched the feline rise higher into the sky.

Iga, Vegeta, and Trunks watched as Goten flew into the air to match Cerberus' elevation.

"You are brave, mortal, I'll give you that." The Keeper admitted before adding, "But this will be your last act of bravery."

"Nah, I doubt it." Goten said with a grin, hoping his overconfident opponent would buy a small lie at the end of his statement, "But you're definitely going to be a fun fight, so I'll just go all out from the start."

"A wise decision, mortal." Cerberus remarked, crossing his right arm over his left as he spoke, "You may die pointlessly, but at least you'll die with honor."

Goten chuckled before transforming in a bright blue flash of light, which faded quickly to reveal his Super Saiyan Blue form.

"Interesting." Cerberus said as he looked the young demi-Saiyan over, "You may live a little longer than I assumed."

"I guess that's the nicest compliment I'm gonna get from you, so thanks;" Goten stated as he took a stance, "But I've got to you beat you up now."

"Come then, mortal," Cerberus beckoned his enemy, his arms still crossed, "Show me your power."

In an instant, Goten vanished before appearing directly in front of Cerberus, aiming a right punch at Cerberus' chest. The immortal caught it easily with his right hand, making eye contact with his foe for a split second after the punch to see that Goten was grinning. The next moment, the sky filled with multiple successive shockwaves as Goten continued to test the strength and speed of his opponent, sending a variety of kicks and punches Cerberus' way. The Keeper blocked all of them, but Goten noted that his enemy was still not trying to fight yet.

Deciding to do something about that fact, Goten charged at his enemy. Cerberus moved to lazily counter Goten's direct attack, about to catch Goten's fist when the image of the Blue fighter disappeared; and before his afterimage had totally faded, Goten materialized behind Cerberus and fired a large blue ki blast between the feline's shoulder blades with his left hand. A blue cloud appeared in the sky as a result, and the three standing on the sidewalk watched and waited for the smoke to clear. Lisanna, who had snuck out the back of C.C., was watching the fight while using Iga's remote to conceal herself. Everything that just occurred took place in almost a blink of an eye to her, and she had to bend her knees slightly as a faint concussive blast hit her from Goten's energy attack.

In the sky, the smoke cleared to reveal a slightly agitated Cerberus, who was pretending to not feel the stinging sensation on his back. Goten hovered a few feet in front of him, wearing his grin proudly.

"An afterimage technique…" Cerberus said condescendingly, "An amateur approach."

"It worked, didn't it?" Goten remarked confidently.

"Don't get cocky, mortal." The feline stated in response, "Another afterimage trick will not deceive me."

"Really?" Goten asked curiously, "Let's see it then."

Goten began hurriedly flying around his enemy, leaving a ring of eight images surrounding Cerberus. The Keeper took a moment to look over the images, taking a fighting pose as he calculated his attack. Spinning around and aiming a punch between the two Goten's close to his left shoulder, the feline smirked with some hubris as the real Goten caught his right fist mid-swing.

"You are pretty quick." Goten complimented before trying to punch Cerberus with his free hand, which the feline caught, "But let's see how strong you are!"

The two instinctively locked hands as they tried to overpower each other, using their energy and muscle to shove against each other.

"Quit holding back!" Goten requested in the middle of the exchange, "I know you've gotta be stronger than this!"

"As you wish," Cerberus replied, quickly twisting left to swing Goten around before planting a boot on the demi-Saiyan's chest and sending him flying. Before Goten could recover in the air, Cerberus raised his right palm in his foe's direction, creating a large, dark green sphere in front of it. The green projectile quickly followed Goten, who was able to put two hands in front of it; and he barely shielded himself from most of the resulting explosion. Using the smoke as cover, he quickly dropped in elevation and flew underneath Cerberus, who only saw Goten a split second before the demi-Saiyan grabbed the front of the feline's right ankle with his right hand. Yanking down as hard as possible, Goten forced Cerberus to slightly bend over as he was pulled down, momentarily leaving his guard open for an attack. Goten released his enemy's foot just after pulling it before using that hand to form a fist and crash it into Cerberus' jaw. The cat was knocked higher into the air, slowly flipping backwards before Goten appeared above him. The Blue Saiyan dropped his right elbow onto the center of his enemy's chest, but the feline managed to grab it with his right hand just before it could land. Goten responded with a left punch that was aimed for Cerberus' head, while the feline cocked his left fist back while aiming for Goten's exposed right ribs. The two punches hit their mark simultaneously, with both fighters recoiling from the impacts. The two separated as they recovered control of their flight, with Goten landing atop C.C.'s east tower and Cerberus landing atop the west tower.

"That was a pretty good punch." Goten complimented as he rubbed his side, "And that energy attack was pretty intense. You're as strong as you look."

"You have impressed me as well." Cerberus replied, briefly rubbing the side of his head as he spoke, "Only a handful of mortals have ever made me feel pain. You still die today, but I will remember you for all time."

"Thanks, I guess." Goten remarked before powering up some more and rushing his enemy. Cerberus used his left elbow to block a high kick from Goten's right leg before the two initiated a flurry of attacks. On the ground, Trunks was still watching with his father and mentor until Iga spoke up.

"It's kind of impressive how much you two have accomplished in a year." The redhead said as he looked skyward before asking, "Goten's going at what? Eighty percent right now?"

"Around there, maybe less." Trunks answered thoughtfully, "I'm actually amazed that they seem evenly matched, though. I thought Cerberus would be a lot stronger than this."

"You should start letting them train with you, Vegeta." Iga suggested in response, glancing at the Saiyan as he spoke "If they got this strong so quickly on their own, imagine the progress they'd make sparring with you."

"Hmph." Vegeta remarked dismissively, wanting to watch the battle rather than talk.

Trunks had glanced at his father to see his response before looking back at the fight, seeing Cerberus spin and land the back of his right elbow into the front of Goten's right shoulder. The Blue demi-Saiyan recoiled slightly before landing a punch into Cerberus' left side. The feline replied by slamming his head backwards into Goten's forehead, causing both to be stunned for an instant. The two drifted apart for a moment before they recovered, with Cerberus wheeling around as Goten shot his hands forward and yelled quickly.

"Kamehameha!"

The blue beam caught the feline in the chest and stomach as it carried him backwards before Goten steered the attack skyward and let it explode. Next, he appeared above Cerberus before making a front flip and catching the feline's forehead with the heel of his right boot. The impact created a shockwave that even the three warriors spectating below felt, and Cerberus immediately began to fall to earth upon impact. The Keeper was about to crash into a nearby office building when he recovered at the last instant, slowing slightly before planting both feet on the wall of the structure before springing off it.

Goten could see a green aura surrounding Cerberus as the feline raced for him at full speed, and he prepared himself for the incoming attack. The Keeper leveled his right fist at Goten's chest, and the demi-Saiyan crossed his arms and focused his ki in front of himself to block the punch. The moment his first punch was blocked, Cerberus delivered a second one with his left fist to the other side of Goten's guard. As soon as the second made contact, he threw a third punch before launching a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh in a berserk attempt to wear down and break Goten's guard. The aggressive tactic was beginning to work, so the demi-Saiyan jumped back as the eighth punch was flung before firing back at Cerberus, ramming into the feline's chest with his left shoulder. The feline responded to the attack by spinning with the force of the impact and swinging his left fist around and into Goten's abs.

The demi-Saiyan recoiled from the gut shot, drifting backwards slightly as Cerberus slowed his spinning and dropped slightly in altitude. The feline was the faster to recover by a split second, shoving both of his hands forward before firing a dark green sphere that was larger than himself at his enemy. Goten saw the attack form; and he managed to put up a guard, ducking behind his crossed arms just as the blast reached him.

"Goten!" Trunks yelled as he saw the explosion. The three spectators could feel the immense power behind that attack, and they knew Cerberus was no longer toying with Goten.

Cerberus was slightly surprised when Goten reappeared in front of him quickly, and he was just barely able to sidestep Goten's left knee. The feline spun right to grab the back of Goten's shirt while Goten continued to fly forward, reaching for Cerberus' tail with his right hand. The feline grabbed Goten's shirt just as he felt his enemy's hand latch onto the end of his tail.

Goten acted faster, using his left hand to rip his orange shirt off himself before dropping elevation rapidly. The feline was yanked downward with him, and Goten released Cerberus and disappeared a split-second before the Keeper crashed into the streets to form a decent crater. Goten reappeared higher in the air before firing a white orb of ki at the center of the crater below him. The resulting explosion was wider than the four-lane road, and it collapsed the first and second floor of a neighboring building as the shockwave wracked the city and the blinding light filled the air.

Goten landed at the edge of the new crater smoothly before readying himself as he watched for his opponent. Rocks began to shift at the center of the crater before Cerberus climbed out the debris.

"So, have you ever had someone beat you before?" Goten asked curiously as his opponent began to levitate over the crater, slowly rising to match Goten's height, "If you did, how does it work?"

"No mortal can defeat me." Cerberus insisted.

"That's fine and all." Goten replied dismissively before questioning seriously, "But what will you do if I beat you?"

"If, by some impossibility, you would actually succeed," Cerberus answered, "Then that would mean you are powerful enough to be a Keeper yourself."

"And that means?" Goten asked curiously.

"You would have a claim to the title of Keeper," The feline explained, "My role could be yours if you so desired."

"What, the Keeper of Death?" Goten said humorously, "No thanks. That doesn't sound like me. I think I'll let you keep your job after we're done here."

"How kind of you." The Keeper joked before commenting, "Kind, yet foolishly arrogant."

The feline disappeared before phasing in front of Goten, who blocked the left fist his enemy had aimed for his head. Goten caught the punch with his right hand before pulling Cerberus forward with it. He attempted to swing his left fist into his enemy's right side, but the feline brought his right knee up to successfully block it. Goten released Cerberus' left hand to punch the feline on the left side of his head with a right hook. In response, the feline slightly recoiled sideways before he managed to grab the back of demi-Saiyan's blue undershirt, attempting to regain his balance. Cerberus was successful; and before Goten could free himself from his shirt, the Keeper tugged slightly on the demi-Saiyan before looping his right arm around his foe's neck. Holding Goten tightly against his chest, Cerberus delivered three very painful punches into Goten's left side, with the last punch cracking at least one of the demi-Saiyan's ribs. Goten reacted before the feline could land a fourth hit, squeezing Cerberus' right wrist tightly with his left hand before rapidly and forcefully driving his right elbow into Cerberus' abdomen four times before he was released. He spun as soon as he broke free of Cerberus' grasp, and he saw the Keeper aiming both hands at him.

"Kamehameha!" Goten quickly called out as he shot his hands forward, colliding a blue beam of ki with a green attack that his enemy fired. The two beams grew in length as their users were shoved backwards momentarily before they regained control of their flights' direction. The two focused their attacks against each other; trying to shove each other with the massive, two-colored stream of energy.

"This is it, big guy!" Goten called out over the roar of the air fleeing the center of the collision, "Either you win this or I do, 'cause I'm putting everything I got into this!"

Cerberus replied by finally raising his energy to his maximum, and Goten had to give him some ground as he slowly halted the green energy's advance. The feline Keeper was about to wish his opponent farewell; but instead, his eyes widened in surprise as his energy did not manage to overtake Goten's. He heard Goten yell at the top of his lungs before he began screaming himself, seeing Goten's blue beam overlap his entire attack. People watching from the ground saw as the black-furred warrior was engulfed in blue light before he went sailing into a building with the attack, with a massive explosion resulting in the collapse of the top half of the building. Debris blanketed the street as the wreckage settled, and Goten stared at the damage as he panted.

"Whoops." He said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head before starting to look for his opponent.

"You think that did it?" Trunks asked no one in particular.

"I think that did most of it." Iga answered thoughtfully, "Watch."

The four fighters for Earth watched as Cerberus slowly crawled out what was left of the building, clearly wounded and fatigued. He amazingly still had the energy to fly until he was standing a few feet in front of Goten, who was holding his side in pain.

"You may be able to defeat me…" the feline finally admitted, "But you will not stop me from fulfilling my mission."

Goten shouted in surprise as Cerberus fired a dark green ki blast at the three spectators, aiming it directly for Iga. Vegeta jumped in front the blast before slapping it into the sky as Goten tackled Cerberus, using his energy to steer them into the ground. Cerberus' back slammed into and fell through some of the crater underneath him as Goten fell atop him. The moment they ceased falling, Cerberus used his left index and middle finger to jab Goten just under his left collarbone. A small green beam fired from the tips of the two feline fingers, boring into Goten's chest and exiting out his shoulder blade. The demi-Saiyan yelled in pain as the beam began widening before he slammed his right palm onto the center of Cerberus' abs before firing the strongest blast he could manage.

The three spectators waited quietly to see who would emerge from the wreckage, waiting for nearly a minute until Iga made a noise of confusion.

"What the?" He said suddenly, and Trunks and Vegeta looked at him to see his puzzled expression.

"What?" Trunks asked his master quickly.

"Remember that you can use my magic again, Trunks." Iga told him before gesturing towards the wreckage, "And then look at the edge of the crater."

Trunks did as he was told, and he suddenly noticed his girlfriend was jumping into the crater.

"Lisanna!" He shouted worriedly before flying quickly after her.

"That girl…" Iga said exasperatedly, "Always helping."

"Getting in the way, more like." Vegeta remarked pessimistically.

"Lisanna!" Trunks yelled as he reached the crater, looking down to see her helping a weak, black-haired Goten out of a small crater within the center of the larger one.

"Right here, Trunks!" She called back as he approached, letting Goten wrap his right arm over her shoulders and lean on her for support, "Come help me with Goten!"

Trunks could see some blood on her and Goten; so he darted over without a word, quickly taking Lisanna's place before helping Goten fly to the edge of the crater as Lisanna climbed out after them. Iga had followed Trunks up to the edge of the crater, and he was waiting for them until he took Goten from Trunks as the older demi-Saiyan turned around to check on his girlfriend.

"Lisanna, what are you doing out here?" He said with concern, offering her a hand for the last step up to the edge and seeing blood on her hands, shoulder, and the front of her shirt, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said as he held her hand and looked her over, "Don't worry, none of it is mine. How does Goten look?"

"I'm okay." Goten assured the group with a worn grin, "Never felt better, actually."

"That cat must have beaten you up worse than it looks," Iga remarked as he let Goten stand unassisted, and he saw the demi-Saiyan press a palm against the hole in his shoulder before adding, "Trunks, get over here and cover the back of this wound; it's showing daylight."

"Yes, Master!" Trunks replied before releasing his girlfriend to do as he was instructed. While the three tended to Goten, Vegeta flew to the center of the crater to examine what was left of Cerberus. He was surprised to notice that the feline was still alive. It was obvious Cerberus was unable to move most of his body, and Vegeta decided it would be best just to finish off the Keeper. He aimed a palm at the feline before a new arrival gained his attention.

"Hey, guys!" Goku greeted them just as he and Videl landed next to the four at the edge of the crater, "That was an amazing fight, Goten, I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks Dad." Goten smiled weakly while trying to avoid wincing in pain as he spoke, "But, what are you doing here?"

"Making sure you guys are safe." Goku replied honestly, "And helping Videl get some Senzu beans."

"Here, Goten." Videl chimed in, pulling one bean from a small brown pouch and handing it to her little brother, who quickly chewed up the food and swallowed it. Lisanna watched, amazed to see Goten's wounds heal almost instantly, and Iga looked at the demi-Saiyan with interest.

"That was incredible, Goten." Videl complimented, resting her hands on her hips as she looked over the wreckage, "Though, I could barely see anything that entire time."

"It did get pretty intense." Goten remarked, standing next to her and staring at the crater as well, "I kinda feel bad for what I did to that guy down there, but I think he might have wanted me to blast him."

"Do you think it killed him?" Videl asked curiously. Goten shook his head.

"I don't think so," Goku answered for his son, "I can still feel his energy coming from over there."

"Should we go help him?" Lisanna asked the group.

"I think you should get cleaned up and go back inside," Trunks suggested, looking to Lisanna, "So you can tell everyone inside that everything's okay."

"That can wait for a moment." Iga cut in, "Hand me one of those beans, Videl; I need one."

"Is it because you know how filling they are?" Lisanna teased the redhead, "I remember hearing Trunks tell you about these things."

"I didn't remember that, actually," Iga said honestly before turning back to Videl, "I'll need two, Videl."

"You'll get one." Videl replied, trying to avoiding smirking as she tossed him a bean. He thanked her as he caught it before jumping into the crater and flying next to Vegeta.

"How's the cat doing?" the redhead questioned as he stopped a few feet from Vegeta's left, who was hovering over Cerberus.

"Slowly regenerating." The Saiyan Prince pointed out, and Iga looked down to see the large hole in the feline was slowly shrinking, "We should eliminate him before he recovers."

"I don't think we'll need to do that, Vegeta." Iga stated, "I got a plan."

Vegeta huffed dismissively before Iga grinned and dropped down into Cerberus' crater, standing over the defeated Keeper.

"See this right here?" the redhead asked Cerberus, holding up a Senzu bean with his right index finger and thumb, "This little guy can heal you up right away, but the problem is that you'll get your power back as well. So here's the question: if you are fully healed, will you create another pointless mess; or will you keep it cool and be cooperative?"

"The… lat... ter…" was all Cerberus could manage to say. Iga understood him, and nodded before placing the bean in the feline's mouth.

"Thank you, human." Cerberus said, standing up with Iga's aid before climbing out the smaller crater with him.

"Oh, I'm not a human." Iga replied, turning to face Cerberus as he finished climbing, "Well, not entirely. But that's a story for another day. Right now, I need two favors from you."

"I'll answer to the one who defeated me, no one else." Cerberus answered him.

"See, that's the thing," Iga said quietly, bravely putting his arm in front of Cerberus as the feline tried to walk past him, "I'm trying to ask you to do something for Goten, but I'll need you to do it after you answer his questions. Just humor me, okay?"

Cerberus looked thoughtfully at the redhead before Iga began to explain what he wanted. Trunks saw the two talking as the group chatted amongst themselves, being the only one to see them talking besides his father. He watched the two slowly approach before Goku acknowledged the two in his conversation.

"Wow." Goku remarked as he looked at Cerberus, "He looks even tougher up close."

"As do you." Cerberus responded, adding, "One of my fellow Keepers showed me some of the tournament you fought in for Lord Beerus. The other Saiyan is just as impressive as well."

"Vegeta?" Goku replied, admitting jokingly, "I guess, but I think he's a little too short to be _that_ impressive."

"Tch." Vegeta made a noise as he did his best to ignore his rival.

"Your red-haired friend tells me you may have some questions for me, Son Goten." Cerberus stated to change the subject, "Is there anything you would wish to know?"

"Yeah, like why aren't you attacking us yet?" Trunks questioned before Goten could think of a question, "I can feel your power's back; don't you have a job to do?"

"I would 'do the job' only if Goten commands me to." The Keeper stated, "My honor binds me to his will now."

"What do you mean?" Goten asked, "Like I control you? For how long?"

"It is a form of control, but it is more like my repaying a debt." Cerberus explained, "And how long is determined by you. You also are now the Keeper of Death, unless you wish for me to 'keep my job' as you said earlier."

"Yeah, I don't want that gig, you can have it." Goten said before adding, "I just want you to answer some of our questions. How many of you guys are there?"

"Including myself, six." Cerberus informed the group, "Each Keeper you face will be stronger than the one before it; defeating me is mere child's play compared to defeating our leader, a feat no one has ever managed to accomplish."

"Who is your leader?" Goten asked, "Who are the rest of the Keepers?"

"Life, Death…" Cerberus chanted, "Space and Time… Sound and Light… all these are common elements of the Omni-Verse, our plane of existence. Each of the Keepers has a duty to maintain their element's balance in whatever way they see fit, and we are ranked amongst each other by physical strength."

"Can you tell us how they do their jobs?" Goten questioned, before nodding after Trunks added for him, "And tell us their names, please."

"You ask a lot." Cerberus remarked sourly before listing, "The Keeper above me is the Keeper of Light, Claris; but you will more than likely not have to face her in combat."

"Why?" Trunks asked.

"Because she does not enjoy battle." The feline explained, "She will fight if she feels compelled to; however, and be afraid if she does. She may be ranked just above myself, but she has never used her full power in combat. Be warned: unlike the others and myself, Claris was not originally a Keeper; so no one is sure of her true powers. She claims to have easily defeated her predecessor; and even when she and I fought for change in rank, I could tell she was still holding back as she defeated me. And the abilities with light that her position as a Keeper grants her only make Claris a more dangerous adversary."

"Higher than Claris in rank is Cosmos, the Keeper of Space." Cerberus continued, "Think of him as a sort of patrolman; and your travelling across universes is a violation of his laws.

"Then there is Casus, the Keeper of Sound and our spy." The feline added, "She was the first to hear of you; so you have her to thank for bringing our attention to you.

"After her is my counterpart: the Keeper of Life," Cerberus recalled for them, "His name is Chaos; and none know this, but he is the one that's actually in charge of the Kais. Officially, I'm only in charge of the Destroyer Gods; but as I said earlier, all Keepers' jobs overlap."

"Really?" Iga remarked, clearly intrigued.

"Hang on," Videl questioned, "How does someone 'keep' life?"

"Have you ever witnessed a planet-wide extinction?" Cerberus replied to her, "Chaos helps restore balance to a broken system, anytime a planet suffers a catastrophic event; Chaos takes over and ensures the repeat of that planet's life cycle. He can't reform the planet or change the age of the stars in its system; but he makes sure the planet would have life return to it eventually, until either the star of the system dies or the planet gets destroyed. Also, if any unnatural destruction of life in the Omni-Verse causes too much damage, Chaos will silence it. Intervention is only a last resort however, because there usually is someone else that comes along and solves the issue.

"And finally, the highest in strength among the Keepers is Chronas, Keeper of Time." Cerberus finished, "Not only is she the one that maintains the laws on time manipulation; but she is also a historian of sorts, one that's collected stories from across the Omni-Verse for an eternity. Combining her power and knowledge with a photographic memory, she can learn her opponent's techniques and weaknesses in minutes and defeat them with ease; and she is by far the second strongest being I have ever met."

"Second strongest?" Goten repeated, "Who's the first?"

"Our leader, the Seventh." Cerberus answered before adding, "I am forbidden to speak of that creature, ask me no more of it."

Goten was about to ask why before seeing the grave expression on Cerberus' face.

"Okay," The young demi-Saiyan said thoughtfully, "Then, where do all the Keepers live?"

"I can't say that either." Cerberus stated, "And if you are wondering how you'll find the next Keeper, do not worry; Claris and Cosmos will find you."

"They work together?" Lisanna asked the feline.

"Not often." Cerberus informed the group, "But Cosmos is more than likely losing his patience at the moment; and he'll fight you first if Claris does not wish to. The two are more than likely watching us at this moment, studying you. And now that you've defeated me, they will study you with exacting detail before they strike."

"Creepy." Videl half-joked.

"And dangerous." Iga remarked seriously, "We're going to need to work hard to prepare for them."

"Or for the other Keepers, too." Lisanna agreed.

"You should tell your mother to send our guests home." Vegeta suggested to his son, "Start training immediately; we don't have time for distractions now."

Trunks was half-tempted to agree before his master cut in.

"I think we can afford a little bit more free time before getting to work, Vegeta." Iga commented thoughtfully, "But you can get started without us, if you want. I mean, you know this place serves amazing dinners when your wife's feeling festive. It'd be a shame to end the party before then."

"I'd listen to the redhead, if I were you; this may be the last time you'll see those people." Cerberus pointed out grimly, "The Keepers are some of the most lethal foes you can find in all the universes. I doubt you will defeat the others; and if you did…"

The feline went silent; and though the group found his statement ominous, barely anyone bothered or wanted to ask for clarification. Only Videl and Lisanna were about to ask for an explanation when Iga spoke up.

"Don't be so morbid, fur ball." The redhead said playfully, "I'm sure these Saiyans can take on anything your buddies will throw at us; but we're only going to need one to beat that Cosmo guy."

"Cosmos." Cerberus corrected.

"Whatever." Iga replied dismissively before adding confidently, "And since I'm going to take down this Claris chick, no sweat; I don't see why we can't have a party before all the drama."

"Do as you like." Vegeta told the group curtly, "But I will be training."

The Saiyan Prince gave Iga a glance before flying for the entrance to C.C.

"We should probably get back inside too." Lisanna suggested, "Everyone's probably wondering what's going on out here."

"Mom's not going to be happy with all the damage." Trunks remarked with a sigh.

"You guys go in ahead of me." Iga told them, "I've got some business elsewhere; but I'll only be gone for a few minutes, at the most."

"Okay," Trunks replied, asking curiously, "Anything you need help with?"

"Nah." Iga answered casually, "I got it handled. You guys go enjoy the party."

Everyone except for Iga, Goku, and Cerberus were left standing by the edge of the crater, waiting for the others to be out of earshot. Iga watched as the first part of the group entered the building before turning to Cerberus.

"You think you can do that favor for me now?" He asked the feline. Goku had hung around in the hopes of talking strategy with the feline; but this conversation also seemed interesting.

"What favor?" The Saiyan questioned.

"Yes, I can." Cerberus replied, ignoring Goku before disappearing.

Goku gave Iga a look of confusion before the redhead spoke.

"You'll see in a second." Iga told him before changing the subject, "Maybe I'll tell you, if you tell me you're going to help us fight these Keepers."

"I was going to do that anyway." Goku stated, "But I'm only doing that after I tell Uub why his training is gonna be held up."

"How is his training going, by the way?" Iga asked curiously, "He seems like a good kid, but I have no idea how strong he is."

"I think he might be one of the strongest humans around." Goku remarked honestly, "And he's still just a kid. I can't imagine what his strength will be like when he's older."

Before the two could speak again, Cerberus reappeared with a guest.

"Gohan!" Goku greeted, pleasantly surprised, "It's good to see you!"

"Thanks, Dad." The halo-wearing demi-Saiyan replied, "It's nice to be back."

"You're educated about this routine, yes?" Cerberus questioned Gohan, "With the exception of Otherworld, you will go nowhere else unless I say so. Understand?"

"I do." Gohan affirmed before adding, "Thank you."

"Do not thank me; thank the red one." Cerberus replied, "And tell your brother that I've returned to the Keepers' home. If he has any more questions for me, he must find me there."

"But we don't-" Iga began to argue before the feline cut him off.

"I've already done you a favor." The Keeper reminded him, "So you'll get nothing more from me; and since you'll be dead once Claris and Cosmos arrive, I'm certain you will never find me again."

Without another word, Cerberus disappeared before Iga led the way onto the sidewalk towards C.C. Gohan followed with Goku directly behind him as they talked amongst each other.

"I really don't like that guy." Iga admitted aloud before half-joking, "Do you think that cat's sour because he's the lowest rank? I bet he gets picked on."

"Bullies are usually victims of bullying themselves," Gohan agreed with a slight smirk before adding, "But I think that guy's just got a mean personality."

"I think he's still embarrassed Goten beat him." Goku chimed in as Iga reached the front door.

"It's probably all three." Iga said humorously as the front door closed behind Goku. The redhead turned back to the front and looked at the brunette behind the front desk, "You might want to lock these doors behind us, ma'am, the press is going to be swarming this place soon."

"Yes, sir." Valese replied, still slightly nervous over the recent incident; but she became curious when she looked at Gohan, "Um, sir? Is that a halo over your head?"

"What?" Gohan asked honestly, stopping and nearly making Goku walk into him before remembering, "Oh, yeah. It is."

"Is it some kind of hat you're wearing?" She asked, "It looks pretty real."

"Well that's because it is." Goku chimed in, "He's dead."

"What?" Valese asked in confusion. Iga sighed at the three.

"Now I gotta stop and deal with this…" He grumbled before turning to the Saiyans, "You guys go on and join the party."

"Okay." Goku said agreeably as Gohan nodded. The two walked past the redhead, but Gohan glanced back to see what Iga was doing. He saw Iga holding up his right hand with a white aura around it, standing in front the girl, who was in some form of trance. He crossed the threshold before he could witness anymore of Iga's memory magic, following his father until they reached their destination.

Goten was on the other side of the atrium with Trunks, Lisanna, Videl, Pan, Yamcha, Pu'ar, Bulma, and Chi Chi when they started to hear gasps coming from the entrance. Looking to the source of the commotion, most of the table were shocked to see a halo-wearing Gohan standing at the entrance with his father.

"Gohan?" Goten questioned, excited and amazed that his brother was here. He got out his seat and hurried over to Gohan.

"Hey, Goten!" Gohan replied with a smile, "It's be-"

Gohan was interrupted when Goten immediately hugged him, returning the hug before trying to speak again, "You've gotten really big, you know that? I thought I just saw Dad playing with Pan."

"I get that a lot now." Goten remarked, chuckling and scratching the back of his head with a grin as they separated, "Mom tells me to get a haircut almost every day because of it."

"Happy birthday, Goten." Gohan told his brother while giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks, bro." the younger demi-Saiyan replied, about to add something until Videl roughly shoved him aside. Her and Pan nearly tackled Gohan as they hugged him together, and a few people in the crowd chuckled or giggled at Goten's expression of confusion and disorientation as he stumbled away.

"Hey… guys…" Gohan said slowly as Videl squeezed his sides. He held Pan with his right arm while he held Videl against himself with his left arm, enjoying the embrace.

"Oh, good. I didn't miss the reveal." Iga remarked aloud as he approached the center of the crowd, arriving just in time to see Videl and Gohan ending their hug.

"It's so good to see you again." Gohan said as a watery-eyed Videl met his gaze before he looked to the crowd, "All of you."

"Gohan!" The three heard behind them, and they turned to see Trunks and Lisanna moving towards them.

"Hey, Trunks." Gohan greeted them amiably, looking over the two with a grin, "A lot's different for you, now, huh?"

"That's an understatement." Trunks replied, smirking with Gohan and Lisanna at his own humor.

"I'm really sorry you were dragged back here like you were." The dead demi-Saiyan apologized.

"It's fine, Gohan." The young man replied, "Everything worked out alright anyway."

"More than alright." Lisanna chimed in happily. Gohan looked past Trunks to see some other people were approaching; and Trunks quickly side-stepped as he saw Chi Chi nearing, getting out of her way so she could hug her oldest son.

"Hi, Mom." Gohan replied with Pan hovering over them as he returned his mother's embrace. Goku grinned dumbly from the front of the crowd.

"Hey, Chi." Goku chimed in. The Son mother released her son as she saw her husband.

"You're back again, Goku?" Chi Chi asked curiously, "Did you have something to do with getting Gohan here?"

"No, actually." Goku answered before gesturing to Iga, "It sounded like it was his idea."

"Is that what you were talking with Cerberus about?" Trunks asked his master.

"More than likely." Iga said jokingly, "I say a lot when I talk; though, so it's all a little hazy."

"I owe you one, Iga." Goten remarked, with Chi Chi, Goku, and Videl nodding in agreement.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Iga replied, "Call it my birthday gift to you."

"You have no clue how creepy it is to hear you say that." Videl half-joked.

"What?" Iga questioned, confused.

"Don't worry about it." Gohan said for his wife, "But thank you, Igneel, for helping me come home."

"It's nothing." The redhead replied, "It's my fault you're dead anyway; just consider this the start of my repayment, okay? We'll be even once you're really back."

"Sounds okay to me." Gohan agreed.

"Why don't we just bring Gohan back right now?" Goku asked the group curiously.

"Because I died in another universe." Gohan explained, "If you wish me back I'll be on Earthland, and the Keepers could be waiting for me; and they'll also probably try to stop you from reviving me anyway."

"So then we go beat them." Goten suggested, "I'm tired of waiting for things to happen. I'm ready to get back to Earthland."

"We'll get there, Goten." Trunks replied, lightly punching the back of his friend's left arm as he stood near him, "But we've got to make sure we're ready to take them on."

"Goku's going to be joining our little rebellion, and Vegeta's already begun training." Iga informed the group before looking to Trunks and Goten, "After tonight, you should start training with either of them."

"What about us?" Lisanna questioned, gesturing to herself and Videl.

"I wasn't planning on having the full strategy meeting before dinner, but oh well." Iga remarked before answering, "You two are going to help me find the Dragon Balls, if you want."

"I can help you with that." Bulma chipped in, "I have five of them, and you can borrow the radar to find the rest."

"Thank you, Bulma, I certainly will." Iga replied, giving her a smile as he spoke before turning dramatically to the crowd, "Well, I think the family reunion part of this party's mostly done; so who says it's time for the drinking part?"

A few in the crowd cheered while others laughed at them. Krillin, Yamcha, and Piccolo moved from the crowd to stand with the Sons and Briefs.

"It's great to see ya, Gohan." Krillin greeted the demi-Saiyan first.

"It's good to see you too, Krillin." Gohan replied before looking to his first mentor, "And it's really nice to see you, Piccolo."

"Thanks, kid." Piccolo said coolly before Yamcha spoke up.

"Hey, Gohan." Yamcha greeted with Pu'ar hovering just over his shoulder, "I'm really sorry about all that trouble I caused back then."

"I don't care about what happened back then." Gohan assured the former bandit, "I'm just glad to see you've been doing okay."

"Thanks, Gohan." Yamcha replied genuinely.

"Gohan," Piccolo began, and Gohan looked at the green man to see he seemed slightly irked, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"You have?" Gohan asked before questioning as Krillin, Pu'ar, and Yamcha watched for amusement, "What's up?"

"Your brother suggested I should train your daughter." Piccolo explained, "She is around the same age when I trained you; but you know I don't like to take on pupils, especially since I've got Dende to advise."

"I can take care of things fine without your help, Piccolo." Dende chimed in confidently, "And Mr. Popo's help will only make the work easier."

"You're not helping." Piccolo muttered to the young Namekian.

"Piccolo," Gohan told the older Namekian, "I'd be honored if you would train Pan; and I'm sure Pan would love it, you're like her big green uncle too."

Piccolo chuckled and smirked at the memory before sighing, "Fine. I'll train her. But not because of that face she's been giving me this whole time."

Gohan glanced to Pan for a moment, who had been hovering over his right shoulder and silently begging Piccolo to agree to train her as the two conversed.

"Thank you, Piccolo, I'll talk to Videl about when Pan can start." Gohan replied before adding, "It will probably be soon, though, since I'm going to be training with Dad and Videl's going Dragon Ball hunting."

Piccolo agreed with him before walking away as Gohan turned to his brother, who had begun to talk to him.

"Well, if you're training with Dad, so am I." Goten declared. Goku smirked at his sons.

"That sounds like fun to me." Goku remarked happily, "I can't wait to see how strong you've gotten with that training in Otherworld."

"I bet no one can beat you now, Gohan." Goten commented.

"We'll find out, I guess." Gohan shrugged off the compliment before changing the subject, "I'm just wondering what's for dinner at the moment."

Gohan sat with his family and the Briefs all at one long table, every member of each family were there with the exception of Vegeta, chatting amongst each other as they all caught up with Gohan. After some back and forth conversation to kill time, dinner was served an hour and a half later; with nearly every food known to earthlings spread out buffet-style. As people finished their meals, Iga continued to chat with Gohan and Videl from his seat across from Gohan. Trunks, who sat between his master's left and his girlfriend's right as he ate, was listening intently to the conversation.

"I wish more people were like you two." Iga remarked as he bit off half a large turkey leg in one bite, "The rest of your friends and family are really nice and all, but I like your personalities best."

"Well, I'm glad you think that highly of us, Iga." Videl replied for herself and her husband, wrapping her right arm around Gohan's left as she shifted closer to him.

"And here we are," Iga added with a smirk towards Goten, who was to his right, "Sitting at the loner's section of the table."

"For now." Goten said confidently, crossing his arms behind his head before looking across the table at the redhead and giving him a grin.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Master," Trunks chimed in to change the subject, "What are you going to do about Edo when we get to Earthland?"

"If he's still there." Videl remarked, "We have no clue what happened after that fight, or what's happened while we've been gone."

Iga sighed to get people's attention before he spoke up, "I figured this conversation was coming up sooner or later. I'll tell you what you want to know; but you guys might wanna take a seat for this..."

Somewhere on Earthland, in the Shadow of the World…

"Yes!" Edo cheered excitedly as he sidestepped a punch from Zancrow before catching the God Slayer's second punch with one hand and adding, "This is-"

He was interrupted by his other opponent; however, who sprung up from the darkened ground behind him and aimed a powerful spell in his direction.

"Earth God's Bellow!" Cel Rhea chanted before a large and focused stream of jet black rocks fired from her mouth and raced towards her master in barely a blink of an eye. Edo saw the attack coming; however, and he spun around with Zancrow as soon as Cel began to shout. Edo's counter did not work out entirely as he planned it, though, as Zancrow decided to try out a new trick. Just before his master could aim him in front of Cel's attack, Zancrow's body suddenly morphed into black flames which the stones flew through harmlessly. The next instant, Edo felt Zancrow's fire grab him by the arms, legs, and the back of his neck; and he realized he was being forced to drop his guard by five different hands made of black flame.

Before Edo could compliment his pupil's creative wizardry, he saw his other student's bellow perform a U-turn just before it went into the wall; and it was heading straight for him again. The heat from Zancrow's fire was increasing rapidly; but the pain was only a brief distraction for Edo before he managed to wrench his hands free and catch Cel's attack at the last second. He held the spell back for a few seconds before Zancrow yanked him underneath its path; and he saw Zancrow revert to his physical form just before they exchanged another flurry of attacks.

While her ally had their master preoccupied for a few seconds, Cel's changed her body into marble-like stone before she dashed into the fray. Her reinforcing spell hardly slowed her down; but it was still more than enough of an advantage for Edo, who dodged and blocked their attacks until he saw an opening in Rhea's guard. Shoving Zancrow aside with a small surge of energy, Edo turned and aimed a palm at the side of Cel's right knee, which buckled instantly as a ki blast exploded against it, throwing her aim off just enough to make her miss before driving his right fist into her lower abdomen. While Cel staggered backwards, Zancrow tried to use some more of his magic.

"Flame God's Scythe!" He called out as the familiar flame weapon formed in his hands; but he was taken by surprise when Edo suddenly appeared in front of him with astonishing speed. Before Zancrow could react to his master's move, he watched as Edo ignored the scalding heat of the scythe and wrenched the weapon from his hands, only putting up a moment's resistance before having to shield himself from his own weapon. With a quick wave of his hand, Zancrow made his spell disappear before it could hurt him; but an undaunted Edo gave the God Slayer a sly smirk before reappearing behind Zancrow and punching him in the back of the head. Stunned, Zancrow stumbled forward just before Cel charged into Edo with her left shoulder.

Edo managed to stiff arm her with his right hand while using his ki to skid over the ground backwards with her, reducing most of the impact of Cel's attack before she tried to punch him in the stomach with her right hand. Edo caught her punch with his free hand before looking directly into Cel's eyes and giving her an amused and excited grin.

"You're finally becoming the fierce warrior I had imagined," Edo observed as they slowly skidded to a halt, "You're getting good…"

Before finishing his sentence, Edo stomped his right foot onto Cel's left foot as hard as he could; and she gasped in surprise before yanking her injured foot back, an action that left her guard wide open.

"But it's still not good enough." He finished with a smirk before aiming a massive black and blueki sphere directly at her with his right hand; but just as Edo fired it, Zancrow dove in front of the attack while shielding himself as best he could. After the smoke from the blue and black explosion cleared, Edo saw both of his opponents still standing; but they were both obviously getting worn out. Despite their state, the two were still in fighting stances, waiting for their master to make the next move. But instead of taking his own attacking stance, Edo simply chuckled and shook his head slightly.

"I will admit, that last move surprised me, Zancrow." Edo remarked with his ever-present grin, "I thought you were too dazed to block my attack."

Finally lowering his guard, Zancrow smirked before admitting, "Honestly, Master, I was. I saw a fifty/fifty chance that I'd jump in front of the right Cel, and just I took it."

"It must be my lucky day." Cel chimed in as she winced from putting weight on her left foot while her body returned to its normal form.

"Because I feel guilty about hurting you, I'll hold off on the critiquing for now." Edo told her before adding a genuine compliment after noticing her nod seemed slightly nervous, "Besides, both of you have come far in these past few months; and this progress must be celebrated, don't you think?"

"I completely agree, Master." Zancrow said with an amused smile and a faint bow, "I never imagined I could become this powerful."

"You may want to continue broadening your imagination, my friend" His master replied confidently, "Because I can imagine even more greatness from you, Zancrow."

"But for today, this little spar was enough; you're free to do as you wish." Edo added before Zancrow could show his gratitude for the praise, "I'm sure a certain pink-haired outlaw is just waiting for your visit; it's been nearly two weeks since she last saw you, if I recall. And who knows? Perhaps tonight will be your night… either way, I hope you enjoy yourself."

"Thank you, Master, I will." Zancrow replied as a portal appeared on the wall to his left, only stepping through after saying good bye with, "And I'll return tonight with a report on Crime Sorciere."

The portal closed behind the Flame God Slayer as Edo continued to grin until he turned to Cel, who spoke first.

"He's becoming one of them." She remarked as she looked at the wall where Zancrow was, "It's not obvious yet, but the change is there."

"Perhaps." Edo slightly agreed thoughtfully as Cel faced him.

"You don't seem very concerned about it." She noted aloud.

"Why should I be? Good guys, bad guys, they're all the same; if you're alive, you can be manipulated." He reminded her with a serious tone, "And on the off chance that's not the case; that just means things will get interesting."

"And I think treachery is unlikely; but honestly," He added for an afterthought, "A part of me would like to see Zancrow turn traitor. Taking him down would make for a fun challenge."

"And what about me?" Cel asked with some interest, "What would you do if I defected?"

"If you ever left my side, my dear;" Edo answered, "I'd drench this world in darkness before sending you and it into a scorched oblivion. There would be no stone or metal on any planet that could save you from the heat of my fury."

"Call me possessive if you want," He added before she could tease him, "But your commitment to me is something that I've grown fond of; and you know how I get when I lose things that I like."

Cel made a seductive smile at his words before stepping closer to him and speaking humorously, "It's not the most romantic answer I've ever heard, but I'm pretty sure it's the most romantic you've ever been; so I'll take it."

She would have moved to touch him as well, but something about his expression caught her attention; and she could see he was seriously pondering something.

"Huh." He said as he made an amusing revelation while looking at the wall ahead of himself in thought.

"What is it?" the Earth God Slayer asked curiously, inching slightly closer to him as she spoke.

"All this time, and I never realized it…" He reflected aloud before meeting Cel's gaze once again, giving her a look that made her nervously excited.

"Realized what?" She questioned with slight impatience.

"Our true potential," He finally answered before she saw and felt as Edo slowly raised his right hand towards her face; but it was a dark mist that gently held the lower left side of her face. Suddenly too nervous to respond, Cel mentally froze as Edo's magic lifted her chin up and pulled her within inches of physical contact with him; and her imagination began to run as she thought about how differently Edo seemed to be acting. She was sure Edo was about to say something -possibly to tease her like he had numerous times-; and she waited in slight annoyance for a long moment until she felt his lips touching hers.

Cel's eye's widened in shock, not entirely believing what was actually happening; but the shock only lasted for a fraction of a second before she immediately, and rather forcefully, deepened the kiss. To her surprise, she could tell that he was grinning; and he seemed to be enjoying her desperate and aggressive display of affection. She felt his hands finally grab her as he latched onto her waist and pressed her body against his.

After what felt like two eternities for Cel, the kiss ended; and Edo released her. She struggled to maintain her balance while some strength returned to her legs; and Edo used more of his magic to help her regain her balance before giving her a smirk.

"You enjoyed that more than I thought you would." He observed with amused interest before waiting for her response.

"You kissed me…" She said slowly, sounding and looking as stunned as ever, "You've never kissed me…"

"And you've never shown me what you're truly capable of," He pointed out with some delight before adding, "I've always seen you as nothing more than a pawn for the longest time; and I don't think I've ever fully comprehended your importance until now."

Cel's mind was racing; and she had completely forgotten about the pain in her foot. Not only had Edo kissed her, but he was also saying that she mattered. She would have been completely overjoyed by his words; but a small creeping thought in the back of her mind wondered if this was all just some big head game Edo was playing. His face was unreadable; however, so she simply assumed his straight face was also an honest one.

"My importance?" She repeated curiously before getting a nod from her master.

"You heard me correctly." Edo affirmed, "You've served me faithfully all these years, and I won't forget that; but now… I think you could do so much more than serve."

"You do?" She asked with poorly concealed excitement, and Edo simply smirked and nodded before speaking again.

"I do," He agreed before stipulating, "But there's just a few more things you need to do before you might be ready."

"Just tell me what you want, and you will have it." Cel replied adamantly. She drew in her breath slightly as he inched closer to her, her skin was tickled by the air escaping his lips as he brought them next to her right ear, and a devious smile quickly shone on her face as she heard his request.

"As you wish, Master." She said eagerly as she turned towards a portal beginning to form on the wall to her left; but she stopped moving towards it after Edo made a final request.

"Oh, and speak with Orga before you go." He added, "Tell him I want our guests ready for the show."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter III: Resistance

In the capital city of Fiore, Crocus…

Wendy Marvell looked at the late morning horizon as she stood before the doors of Mercurius, the home of the King of Fiore; and she enjoyed the fresh air and beauty of the surrounding gardens for another brief moment before the two guards posted by the doors escorted her inside. The moment she entered, Wendy looked ahead to see her partners Romeo Conbolt and a human-form Carla; and the flame-wielder smirked as he made eye contact with the slightly embarrassed Dragon Slayer.

"It's about time." Romeo teased her, "We were worried we'd have to see the king without you."

"We'd have done no such thing." Carla told Romeo realistically before turning to Wendy, "Did you find your reading glasses?"

"I did." Wendy said with a slightly embarrassed nod, "I think they fell out my bag when I tripped."

"You're lucky you found them." Romeo reminded her, "Those 'Gale-Force' things are pretty pricey. You gotta watch your walking"

"I know." Wendy replied

He smirked in response, but decided not to continue goofing around after Carla chimed in.

"Now that we're all ready, I suppose we shouldn't keep the king waiting." The Exceed suggested, and Wendy and Romeo agreed with her.

After recounting everything that occurred during their job to the king and his daughter before socializing with them for some time, the three were given a total of 750,000 Jewel before they were escorted out the palace by Princess Hisui. After saying farewell to her, the three made their way out through the gardens.

"That's awesome." Romeo remarked with a grin as the guards closed the palace's entrance behind him, "I can't believe they gave us an extra 150,000 for taking down those dark wizards on our way here."

"I know," Wendy agreed, "I thought we might get some kind of payment for it, but not that much."

"In times like these, dark guilds can't be tolerated." Carla reminded the two as she walked behind them, "And we may be Fairy Tail wizards, but it's still impressive for the three of us to take down some forty wizards on our own."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Carla, 'on _our_ own'." Romeo stated, "I remember Wendy took out thirty of 'em by herself before we even caught up to her."

"You're not getting out of trouble by just complimenting me this time, Romeo." Wendy replied, grinning at him as she walked and talked.

"Really?" Romeo asked jokingly, "It worked last time."

"Last time probably worked because you at least showed up for the job." Carla reminded him, "And sleeping while the train we're supposed to protect gets attacked is the exact opposite of showing up."

"I'm thinking Carla and I will take six hundred this time." Wendy suggested as the trio finally exited the garden.

"Aww," Romeo whined, "But I owe Mira thirty-thousand Jewel for everything I helped smash in that fight last week. 120,000 means I'm going to have to work next month…"

"Sucks to be you, I guess." Wendy said, slightly surprising Romeo when he saw her straight face as she spoke, "Because Carla and I will have four months off with our share. We might even go to Ryuzetsu Land; I heard it's finally been fully rebuilt since Natsu blew it up."

Walking right behind them, Carla looked ahead to see Romeo giving Wendy a pleading expression, about to beg her again until the bluenette giggled.

"I'm just kidding." She revealed with a smirk before changing to a more serious tone, "I just wanted to get a little payback for making me do all the work on that train. You know how hard it is to deal with my motion sickness, right?"

"I do," Romeo said apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"I know you were up all night training, so I'll let it go." Wendy accepted his apology kindly before adding, "But if Sherria's magic had worn off; Carla would have had to deal with those bandits by herself. The only reason I was mad at you is because of that."

"But you're not mad at me anymore?" Romeo questioned hopefully.

"Of course not." Wendy assured him with a smile, "I can't be mad at you for long, Romeo. And you'll get the three hundred like we said before."

The fire mage grinned and leaned into the Sky Maiden's left shoulder, "You're the best, Wendy. I'll make it up to you somehow."

"Sure." Their Exceed friend remarked disbelievingly.

"What?" Romeo asked the humanoid as he turned his head to look at her, "I make great apologies."

"You shouldn't have to be good at them." The Exceed quipped.

"But you're still saying I'm good at them, right?" Romeo asked with a humorously dismissive tone, though he had not ignored her remark. She was right, and he still felt guilty for making them do their job without him. He was about to respond to Carla when Wendy interrupted them.

"Go easy on him, Carla." Wendy asked her friend, "You know he already feels bad about it."

The Exceed wasn't arguing anymore; but she still had a skeptical look on her face.

"I'm serious." Romeo added after seeing Carla's unconvinced expression, "I promise I won't screw up like that again."

"Fine." Carla gave in before saying decidedly, "Just make sure you keep your word."

"Thanks, Carla," Romeo said genuinely. Wendy looked towards the sun to see what time it was.

"It might be getting kind of late for lunch." She thought aloud so her friend could hear her, "What do you guys think?"

"I think we should get something before we gotta take that long ride back to Magnolia." Romeo suggested; and Carla shrugged indifferently, but Wendy was worried about more than lunch.

"I don't think I want to eat before I get on a wagon." Wendy admitted.

"How's the lacrima looking?" Romeo asked, "If it's still got magic in it, you should be fine."

"I know, but I'm thinking about not using it." Wendy explained, "Every time Sherria and her guild make one of these for me, I owe her a favor; and they're usually embarrassing to repay."

"I think I understand." Romeo replied, sounding unsure, "But do you think losing your lunch every time you get on a vehicle is better?"

"That's what I'm trying to decide right now." Wendy answered, taking a couple of seconds before reaching a decision, "I think being hungry and not sick on the ride home might be the worst outcome."

Carla shook her head at her friend before Romeo grinned and said something similar to what Carla was thinking, "That's a Dragon Slayer for you."

In the city of Magnolia…

Lucy sat over her desk, slowly writing down a few more words as she fought off her embarrassment; and she was thinking of what to write next when Happy broke her concentration by entering from the window.

"Hey, Lucy." He said as he landed on her bed, greeting her happily before looking closely at her, "Hey, are you okay, Lucy? You look kinda red."

"I'm fine." Lucy replied nervously, only blushing redder as Happy grew suspicious of her, "How are you?"

"What are you reading?" Happy questioned, "It must be a pretty good book to affect you that much."

"I wish." Lucy admitted honestly, not realizing that she was about to regret doing so, "I'm trying to write a book right now."

"Really?" Happy asked curiously, "What kind of book?"

He gave Lucy a questioning look after her face went bright red; but she never answered.

"Lucy," Happy restated his question, "What kind of book are you writing?"

There was a tense and quiet moment before Lucy saw the cat's wings reappear, and she instantly moved to grab the pages she had already written. She was not fast enough to stop Happy from snagging some of them, however.

"Let me explain this before you read any of it!" Lucy pleaded with him, and he looked up at her from the papers with a grin.

"Go on." The feline said amusedly.

"Last Christmas, when we played Truth or Dare, Erza dared me…" Lucy confessed slowly, inching closer to the hovering feline as she spoke, "She dared me to write an erotic novel…"

There was brief, tense pause before the slightly stunned Happy finally reacted.

"No way!" Happy shouted before Lucy lunged for the pages. She managed to grab a few more, but not all of them; and Happy darted away to hover outside her window as he read the few pages he still held.

"Wow…" He said, trying hard not to laugh, "Lucy, I didn't know you ever thought about stuff like this!"

"I don't!" Lucy defended herself, "I'm just writing this junk so Erza doesn't beat me to death!"

"She's just kidding about the killing part you know." Happy reminded her, "You can always just take the beating; and if you go down fighting, maybe it'll be quicker too."

"I'm not going to try to fight Erza." Lucy stated, "But I'm not going to let her beat me up either, so hand me back those pages and let me get back to work."

The two were silent as Happy hovered in the air, glancing between Lucy and the papers before concluding, "Well, I'll see you at dinner, Lucy!"

He quickly shot off with the pages as he yelled, and Lucy shouted at him as he took off.

"Happy!" She yelled at him angrily and desperately before slumping into a heap on her bed and whining, "Great, now I'm dead AND humiliated…"

Levy, Pantherlily, and Gajeel were at the Fairy Tail bar together, with Gajeel standing behind Levy as she faced Mirajane across the bar with Lily sitting between them. Erza was across the hall, eating a late lunch by herself as she watched the guild. Cana was sitting to Levy's right, downing a few bottles of beer as she listened to the three chat and planning to jump into the conversation after she finished the drinks. She did not get the chance; however, because Happy barged through one of the doors into the guild hall, shouting excitedly as he did.

"Mira! Mira!" He declared to the takeover mage as he flew to her, "You've gotta read this!"

"What is it, Happy?" The white-haired woman asked as he landed next to Lily and handed her the papers he had been holding.

"Just read it." The blue Exceed told her, "And then hand it to Levy when you're done. She's definitely going to want to read this."

"What is it?" The script mage questioned while Mira quickly skimmed over the pages.

"Happy, these are part of a…" Mirajane remarked before blushing brightly, "Where did you find this?"

"Guess." Happy replied with a smirk as Levy took the pages from Mirajane out of curiosity.

"Oh," Levy remarked as she read the first page quickly, "Wow."

"What's on those pieces of paper?" Gajeel questioned as Lily took one page from Levy; and the Dragon Slayer saw his feline friend's eyes widen as he read the paper.

"Oh my." The Exceed said with some shock before quickly handing the sheet to Levy.

"Oh, you don't want to read this stuff." Levy assured Gajeel before turning back to the blue feline, "Where did you get this, Happy?"

"I told you already," Happy reminded her, "You have to guess."

"Wait a minute…" Mirajane declared as she took back another page from Levy to examine it, "I recognize the handwriting. This…"

"This is Lucy's handwriting!" Levy revealed first, and Cana almost choked on her second-to-last bottle before she broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Let me see that." Cana requested, holding out a hand before Levy handed her some of the pages for her to read, "That's pretty impressive, actually; and it's really detailed… I didn't think Lucy would follow through on it."

"So this was the dare Erza gave her?" Levy asked the women in the group, "I wasn't here while all of you got drunk together; so I never knew what it was."

"Yeah, you were too busy 'working' with Gajeel." Happy replied before adding, "It was weird that you made Lily train with me and Carla for most of the holiday season, too."

"I bet they managed to step under a mistletoe or two along those 'patrols' the Council gave them." Cana joined the feline in teasing the two as she enjoyed the reddening expression on Levy's face, "Maybe you should go tell Lucy all about it; it would probably make for good source material."

"Cana!" Levy replied, completely embarrassed, while Gajeel looked away and pretended to ignore the entire conversation; but he didn't have to tune anyone out for too long, because Erza suddenly cut into the conversation.

"What's all this commotion about?" The Knight questioned demandingly from behind the group.

"Not much really." Mirajane answered for the group, "We were just enjoying Lucy's newest novel, a work inspired by Erza Scarlet. I really wish Happy had stolen the title page, though."

"Inspired by me?" Erza questioned, wondering aloud as she grabbed some of the pages from Levy.

"Huh." Erza remarked as she read the few pages she had, "I see Lucy has finally played her part of the game. The pages here are not that bad, surprisingly."

"I didn't know Lu had such a…" Levy added, taking a moment to find the right words to describe her friend, "Vivid… imagination."

"I guess 'vivid' is a word for it." Mirajane agreed before looking at Erza's thoughtful expression.

"Well, it appears that Lucy was actually going to follow through, so I'll tell her she doesn't have to write anymore." The Knight decided aloud before adding, "Although… it couldn't hurt to ask her to finish it…"

"Good luck with that." Cana remarked as Mirajane passed her another bottle of beer, "I can only imagine Lucy's red face as she wrote every single word."

"She's probably dying of some kind of stress." Levy agreed humorously before turning to Happy, "Does Lucy know you've got these?"

"Yep." Happy replied, "She stopped me from bringing you guys more, unfortunately."

"I should return them to her." Erza suggested, and Happy made a depressed sigh before she continued to speak, "Even if she won't finish writing it, I can keep what she wrote."

Erza asked for the pages, and nearly everyone cooperated. One thief in particular was Mirajane, who snuck a page under the bar just before handing Erza the other papers she had. And as Titania walked away, Mirajane looked to Happy.

"You should probably go with Erza to Lucy's." The bartender suggested to the feline, "You're not going to want her angry at you for long if you plan on having a bed tonight."

"I guess that's a good idea." Happy agreed, telling the group he would see them later before exiting the guild hall as well. As soon as he had left, Mirajane looked back to the remaining crowd by the bar.

"What's up, Mira?" Cana asked curiously, seeing a hint of mischievousness in the takeover mage's eyes, "You've got that look again."

"You two," Mirajane said as she looked to Gajeel and Lily, "Can you go sit somewhere else for a minute or so? We girls need to have a chat."

Levy and Cana suddenly grew interested, practically shoving the two away as they waited for Mira to speak. The white-haired woman waited until the two men were far enough away before she pulled the smuggled page out.

"You kept one too?" Cana remarked, pulling a folded up page from her bra, "I knew Erza and I weren't the only ones that liked it."

"It's not half-bad." Mirajane conceded with a faint blush before clarifying, "But no, that's not why I kept a page. Read the description of the guy closely."

"Average height, a bit of a tan, vibrant and boyish, cute face, pearly-white teeth…" Cana listed off after Mira let her read the paper with Levy, "Mira, what are we looking for here?"

"The guy's eye color is black." Levy said, "I don't know many people with that eye color, but that's not too weird."

"The guy's got some scars," Cana pointed out, "But Erza said she wanted the guy to be some kind of tough guy."

"And where does this guy have those scars?" Mira asked.

"There's one on the right side of his neck," Cana answered before Levy added the other half, "And there's a cross-shaped scar on his abs..."

"That sounds familiar." Cana remarked as Mira smirked, hoping to see the revelation strike them before she realized she had to inform them.

"I don't think the guy Lucy was originally imagining had blonde hair, spiky hair; but definitely not blonde." Mira pointed out for them.

"She was thinking about Natsu while she was writing…" Levy realized, keeping her voice low so only Cana and Mirajane could hear her, "Do you think she meant to do that?"

Mirajane shrugged as Cana began to speak again.

"So that's why this became girl-talk." The card mage thought aloud before adding with a sad sigh, "It's been years and she still thinks about him so much."

"I can't blame her. He was finally back with her after that whole year; just for this crazy war to start and make her lose him again..." Levy remarked honestly, "You know she's been doing jobs and stashing parts of the payments away for Natsu this whole time, right? It's something about giving Natsu time to recover after we manage to rescue him, I think."

"I didn't know that, actually." Cana replied, "How'd you find out about it?"

"I overheard her and Happy talking about it once." Levy said, and Mirajane nodded as she remembered the conversation as well.

"Those two were always more than teammates," Mira chipped in, "Even if they never said it."

"Do you know how many hot dates Lucy's turned down just to hang out with Natsu?" Cana remarked in agreement, taking a swig before adding, "Some of those guys were pretty rich, too."

"By the way, Mira, has Lisanna found a way to get Natsu back yet?" Levy asked the takeover wizard.

"I don't think so." Mirajane answered with a shrug before declaring, "But I think she's busy working on something, because Elfman and I haven't heard from her in a little while."

"And who's this guy that's been helping her?" Levy questioned, "He sounds like a nice guy."

"Lisanna says he is," the bartender answered with a shrug, "But I've haven't met him in person yet. To be honest, I can't even remember what his name is."

"I heard a rumor about four years ago," Gajeel chimed in, stepping towards them as he spoke, "A man with bright blue hair fought Edo back then, and two other people took on his goonies."

"Have you heard about this before?" The Dragon Slayer questioned.

"Not a word." Mirajane lied, almost completely coolly with her signature smile.

Gajeel furrowed his brow at her in response as he watched her body language.

"You guys ever hear anything about this?" Gajeel asked, a little less forceful this time.

"I don't think so." Levy answered first.

"I heard Erza talk about a man in blue with Bisca," Cana volunteered, "She said the guy signaled Bisca with Erza or something, but the weird part was that he knew Bisca's name. Erza asked if she knew who he was, but Bisca said she couldn't recognize him in her scope; he was just a blue blur."

"You want to know what's the craziest rumor I heard about that battle?" Mirajane chimed in, hoping to steer the subject away from Gohan, "We all know Acnologia showed up and killed God Serena, but the rumor is that someone showed up just after that. Whoever that was, they beat him up and dragged him away. Master Makarov heard that from the Council; but they're trying to keep it under wraps, so don't tell anyone I told you that."

"That had to be one of Edo's men." Gajeel declared sourly, "Or the creep himself."

Levy sighed before commenting, "To think that's something stronger than Acnologia…"

An hour later, only a ¼ mile from the Magic Council's Fiore Branch HQ…

Standing at the top of a rocky hill of her own design, Cel Rhea looked over the exterior of the Council's magical structure in detail one last time before she waved her hand upward lazily, making a slab of rock rise from the ground before a dark portal opened onto it.

"Are you ready, Orga?" She asked through the rift, knowing her partner could hear her.

"I am." He answered gruffly, making Cel grin in response.

"Perfect." She remarked eagerly before giving him the order, "Now do it."

The next instant, the Council employees at the headquarters that were outdoors or near a window watched as a massive thunderstorm filled the sky over the building in a matter of seconds. Finding the sudden change in weather odd, multiple people stopped their work to investigate the anomaly; but before anyone could figure out the storm was magically created, a few of the people outside noticed the shadows the black clouds were casting seemed to be getting darker. The shouting in panic and confusion began when the entire perimeter of these shadows suddenly began to rise from the ground, rapidly blocking any view of the outside world as it encased the entire structure in a dark silo.

"What's happening?!" A random man asked everyone near him, but no one had an answer.

"We're being attacked!" Another man pointed out.

"What do we do?!" A woman shouted before a third man yelled after her.

"I can barely even see!"

In the midst of the chaos, a new sound and sensation caught the people's attention. The ground began to tremor violently, cracking in a few places, before suddenly calming after barely a minute.

"Was that an earthquake?" Someone asked her coworkers, who mostly shrugged in confusion.

"No," Mest Gryder said grimly as he replied to a guard who asked the same question, looking out a window from one of the top stories on the floating tier with apprehension as he spoke, "It's worse."

"We've got to get out of here." He decided aloud, recalling some of the rumors about the battle over Magnolia to himself as he began to deduce the possible culprits of this shadow magic.

"What is this, Doranbolt?" Another guard near him questioned, but he didn't bother explaining his concerns to them.

"There's no time," He informed them before instructing them, "Come with me, now."

Needing no more convincing, the guards and other Council officials that heard him flocked to him before the whole group teleported away. The moment the highest ranking of the Council officers in the building had been evacuated, Cel Rhea finally made her presence known. Casting her voice through the shadows, the people trapped inside the darkness heard her voice coming from all directions.

"So this is the Magic Council's strength," She taunted, feigning disappointment before pointing out with amusement, "Your leaders left you behind without even trying to fight back… It's a shame, really. This is just too easy now.

"I would say I'm surprised that you've been abandoned," She added insult to injury, "But then again, you people are more like sheep than soldiers; so I can't really blame them for not wanting to waste their time."

"What do you want from us?!" A few people asked in several different locations, each in their own ways. She replied by giving them a weak laugh before speaking.

"I'm not here to take anything important from you, just a little bit of your time." She began to explain before amending her statement, "Or your lives, if you vex me."

People all across the building began to mutter amongst themselves as they tried to assess the threat that was speaking to them; and several were starting to wonder if the shadow magic was just for show.

"Oh, I wouldn't try escaping; it'll only get you killed." She warned them with finality before adding, "And for the little schemers in the crowd, I can hear and see everything inside this darkness; so good luck with keeping your plans secret. The only way any of you are ever going to see daylight again is if I allow it."

"And just to make sure you stay cooperative," She continued as people began to hear and feel a faint tremor again, "I've made some new friends to help me keep an eye on you all."

The rumbling increased in intensity from all sides of the structure; but the source of the rumbling made even more noise: it was the marching of a large army, which consisted of about some two hundred, seven foot tall, jet-black stone golems. In a circular formation around the entire building, the faceless golems emerged from the dark border before moving at a trudging pace to take over the entire building on the ground floor. After she had positioned her "men", Cel spoke to her captive audience again.

"For anyone thinking that they could take these big guys, just don't. They look big and slow; but I promise, if you move in any way one of my golems doesn't like, you'll be splattered onto a wall before you can even scream about it." She advised them honestly, "Your best option is to just stay calm and be patient; I'm sure someone's going to come along and try to save you. I'm counting on it, really."

Hours later, outside of Magnolia…

Wendy Marvell was laying across the right side of the wagon, resting her head on Carla's lap while Romeo Conbolt watched the two from his spot across from them. The wagon rocked slightly as it rolled down the road to Magnolia; and Romeo glanced out the back, leaning out slightly to see the sun was just above the horizon to the west.

"Sun's about to set." He told the two, looking back at them as he thought aloud, "We'll probably get back pretty late."

"I don't think that will be a problem." Carla replied to him, "Unless we get attacked on the road with Wendy like this."

"Sor…ry…" Wendy muttered sickly.

"Save it, child." Carla told her, "It's not your fault the lacrima finally wore off."

"At least your magic makes it easy to refill your stomach." Romeo offered with a shrug.

"Yeah…" Wendy agreed slowly, "I guess…"

The Sky Maiden put all her strength into her hands after placing them under herself and slowly forced herself to sit upright. Romeo watched her, impressed yet slightly concerned.

"Are you sure you don't want to lay down, Wendy?" He asked her, "You might feel a little better that way, and you look a little green."

She shook her head as she tried to ignore the dizzying and sickening sensation coming from her stomach before speaking, "I'm okay, Romeo, I'm getting the hang of this."

"Barely." Romeo observed with a smirk.

"Don't discourage her." Carla told the young man, "She's trying very hard right now."

"It's fine." Wendy replied to her Exceed friend, "He's just teasing me."

"Yeah, Carla," Romeo commented playfully, "Stop being such a mom; last time I checked you have a teenaged human form, and why's that?"

"It certainly isn't an indicator of my maturity." Carla remarked, "And if you're planning on using the 'act my age' bit again, save it. It won't happen."

"Sure." Romeo quoted, imitating the disbelieving look the Exceed gave him earlier. Wendy giggled at the slight frustration Carla's face showed, knowing her friend was secretly amused as well.

"And look at that, Wendy's feeling better." Romeo said in response to Wendy's laughter, "I guess my sense of humor is good for something after all."

"I am feeling a little better." Wendy admitted with a faint smile. Romeo returned the smile before it suddenly changed into a grin; he had a great idea.

"Hey, Carla…" He said dramatically as he moved to sit between the two girls, turning in his seat to face Carla as he spoke, "What's the situation with you and Happy? It took me a while to notice how close you two have gotten recently, but I did."

Initially surprised by the question, Carla's face only hinted at some surprise and embarrassment for an instant before she crossed her arms and looked away with a stern face.

"It's not like that." Carla insisted, "He just has more spare time now that Natsu's not here. And since Lucy doesn't work as often as Natsu did, that gives him even more free time on top of that."

"I know he's had a lot of free time for a while now," Romeo replied with a grin, "But he never spent nearly all that free time hanging out with you until a year ago, but I'm guessing training with him really helped with that."

"Yeah, Carla," Wendy added, her humor and genuine curiosity overrode her motion sickness, "You've never told me what you do when you're with Happy either."

"Errands mostly," Carla informed them, "I helped him dust his and Natsu's house the other day, while you two were off doing who knows what."

"We told you what; we were having dinner." Romeo reminded her.

"Oh really, why does Wendy seemed to be blushing?" Carla questioned with a smirk before observing with a less amused expression, "It's making her face look sort of brown, actually."

"You shouldn't discourage Wendy, Carla." He replied, wrapping his right arm around Wendy's shoulders jokingly, "'She's working very hard right now'."

Wendy giggled at Carla's face, pressing into Romeo's side in the process. She did not know exactly why, but the physical contact with Romeo was helping abate her sickness; so she intended on leaning into him as much as she could before he'd release her. But to her surprise, Romeo didn't. She thought of saying something about it, thinking Carla might start making teasing or disgusted comments soon; but his soothing aid against the motion sickness was too effective to resist.

"Don't worry, Carla," Romeo said while smirking faintly at the feeling of Wendy resting against him, "I'm sure Wendy and I will find out what you and Happy are really doing, sooner or later."

After sundown at Era, on the roof of the Magic Council H.Q…

Warrod Sequen was standing alone, looking over the eastern horizon and enjoying the view for a few moments until Jellal had finally arrived to meet him; but Jellal was too quiet in his approach. Instead of a normal 'hello', Warrod met the leader of Crime Sorciere with a gasp of surprise.

"You're going to cause an accident, one day, you know!" the Wizard Saint told an apologetic Jellal in annoyance, "I'm more than a hundred years old, and you're trying to scare me to death?"

"I'm not-"

"Just kidding!" Warrod said jokingly, "I saw you coming a mile away."

"Right." Jellal remarked half-heartedly before getting down to business, "You asked for me?"

But while Jellal was speaking with Warrod, Merudy was watching the two from an inn that operated in the city below. She rented a room on the top floor with a balcony facing the H.Q. as planned; but she had some spare Jewel after helping a neighboring village with some monsters, so she decided to spoil herself. The plan was for her to rent a room at a cheap little inn that no one would notice; but Merudy had enough money to afford more middle-class housing. The balcony railing had been starting to rust at least a year ago, and the rooms were tiny; but the bathroom was clean and functioning and the twin-sized bed was pristine and insanely comfortable. Merudy decided to actively avoid it to ensure she would not fall asleep on the job.

And now, she was sitting on a chair and leaning her left arm against the rail carefully as she watched the two Wizard Saints; until something stole her attention from them.

"Meldy," A quiet voice said from behind her.

She jumped and spun around, ready to fight when she saw her guest had put his hands up in a surrendering posture.

"Zancrow?" She said as she immediately recognized the God Slayer, "What are you doing here?"

"That should be obvious." Zancrow said with a grin as he lowered his arms, "I came here to see you."

"You can't just show up whenever you want, you know." She reminded him, "I'm going to hurt you by accident one day."

"And what would Jellal do if he saw me here?" Zancrow asked curiously,

"Nothing but complain, as long as you didn't try to hurt me." Merudy answered honestly, "I told him that we meet up every now and then; and he understands, even if he hates your guts."

"I'd never try to hurt you." Zancrow said seriously.

"I know that." Merudy assured him before adding, "Even though I know who you work for."

"Let's not talk about my Master." He pleaded, "I've got enough to worry about as it is."

"You're Master's responsible for all of this, including all of the people that have been hurt by the war." She continued stubbornly, "I need you to listen to me for once."

"I'm always listening, Meldy." Zancrow said; and she was somewhat surprised to notice he had sounded slightly hurt by her secondary statement. She decided to let him talk first.

"You know how many times I've told you this," Zancrow replied, slightly frustrated, "I have to serve him, Meldy; and I have no real influence on him, I've tested that before."

"Look," Zancrow added, stepping closer to her as he spoke, "I want to tell you the real reason I'm still working for Master Edo."

"It's because he brought you back, right?" Merudy asked him.

"Not just that," Zancrow informed her, "I learned something important while I was training a few months ago."

"What is it?" She questioned, glancing to see Jellal was still conversing with Sequen before stepping closer to Zancrow.

"Before my Master fights Gohan again," Zancrow explained, "He intends to grant a part of his essence to someone else. And if I remain his most loyal and strongest warrior, I'll be the one he gives his power to when he dies."

"You're doing this just so you can live forever?" Merudy remarked.

"It's not just so I can live forever, Meldy," Zancrow revealed, "It's so you can as well."

"Me?" Merudy asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"There's a spirit that's bound to my Master; it's what gives him his immortality." Zancrow told her, "He can keep a part of this spirit in a very rare sort of lacrima and give it to someone else for their own use; if my Master were to die while someone else has a part of the essence, the rest of the spirit that was bound to my Master would flee to that person so it could live on. The spirit teaches how to create the right form of lacrima; and when I earn the right to be my master's successor, should he fall, I'll have the knowledge and ability to do the same thing."

"And you want me to share Edo's power with you?" Merudy asked tentatively; she was nervous for a reason that felt strange to her.

"I have a question, Meldy." Zancrow stated calmly as he stepped within arm's reach of the young woman.

"What is it?" She asked, nervous at how close he had come to her.

"When I asked you what Jellal would do if he saw me…" He said slowly, hesitating to step closer to her, "And you said 'nothing' because 'he understands'. What does he understand, Meldy?"

"It's probably not what you're thinking." Merudy remarked dismissively, turning to lean forward against the rail to avoid looking at him, "Don't try to make it sound like there's something between us."

"Really?" Zancrow questioned quietly, stepping very close to her left and lightly touching her shoulder until she shrank from his touch, "If you know I'm not going to hurt you, then why are you scared?"

"Look at me, Meldy." He requested gently, and she gave in to his pleading. As soon as she turned around, he stepped a little closer to her before speaking again.

"Look me in my eyes and tell me that there's nothing. After all the time we've spent together in these little meetings… you can really say that there isn't something between us?" He questioned.

She could see he was restraining himself from doing something, but she was becoming curious as to what that something was. She met his gaze confidently before trying to say exactly what he told her to; but something in her resisted, and she stuttered before she could begin the statement.

"You know why I want to give you Edo's power." Zancrow stated, boldly inching even closer as his confidence was bolstered, "I've never been subtle about it…"

"Zancrow, stop…" Merudy told him, pushing her right hand against his chest to keep some space between them. Even through the fabric of the cloak and hood he was wearing, she could feel that his chest was firmly muscular; and she began to remember seeing him shirtless, firmly counter-acting her attempt at distancing them as the contact sparked feelings she'd been restraining.

"No." He said boldly, gently swatting her hand aside with his left arm before leaning closer to her face and placing both hands on the railing behind her.

"Zancrow, we can't…" Merudy stated, fighting the urge to give in, "Not while you're working for Edo."

"I'm not working for him, Meldy, I'm working for you." He said quietly as he lightly squeezed her left elbow with his right hand. Though she knew Zancrow had changed just as he claimed to, she was still surprised at how gentle he always was in dealing with her.

"Jellal's watching you now." Zancrow informed her after he glanced away from her for a moment, only moving his right hand back to the rail as he spoke; and she began to worry until he added, "Don't worry about getting embarrassed, as long as the lights stay out around us; he can't see me."

"He's waiting for an all clear from me." She replied as she remembered her job, turning in her tiny amount of personal space to give Jellal a thumbs up. The two watched Jellal nod in response before he jumped off the tower, glowing yellow mid-fall before landing and racing towards the opposite side of the city.

"He's going the wrong way." Zancrow pointed out questioningly.

"No, he's got somewhere else to be tonight." Merudy answered, hesitating to decide whether to turn around or not.

"And what about you?" He asked her coolly, "You've got somewhere to be, too?"

"I wish, but I'm unfortunately stuck here for the night, trying to stop myself from doing something stupid." Merudy remarked in a last-ditch effort to ward him off, but it was a half-hearted attempt at best, "I should be on a mission of some kind, though; I'm better at fighting dark wizards than I am at-"

"I'm sorry; but I want you to promise me something, Meldy." Zancrow declared, slightly surprising her that he cut her off, "Even if aren't with each other…"

"What is it, Zancrow?" Merudy asked, almost feeling the hurt in his voice at the thought of his last remark. The question she had asked herself a number of times came up once more in her head: did that thought also hurt her? She had been asking herself the question for nearly two years; but she was only just finally beginning to reach some form of conclusion.

"If I do get my Master's essence," He asked as she weighed all her options, all the while wondering what he was going to say, "Will you please accept the immortality anyway?"

She was slow to react as she tried to form a decent response; and she was still trying to figure out what to say when he spoke again.

"Use your sensory link on me." He suggested to her before sounding more commandingly, "Use it."

She hesitated, already having a good idea of the sensations he was probably feeling at the moment; but she was slightly afraid to feel them as well. More importantly, she did not want him to notice her own internal struggle. It took a long moment, but his pleading and desperate gaze made her cave in and humor him, knowing he was not going to leave her alone unless she did. The moment the pink bands appeared on their wrists was also the moment where she lost all control of the situation.

She could feel his muscles were tensed as he fought to avoid touching her, her breath was warm against his face, and there was a tingling sensation in his lower lip. She could also feel he was afraid or nervous; his stomach was tightened with anticipation, but she could feel a layer of sweat on his skin and his heart's reverberation as it beat rapidly. She deactivated her magic almost immediately after all the many sensations crashed into her.

"You can't answer my question…" He said with realization after he felt her senses leave his body, "Because you haven't even answered your own yet."

"Zancrow…" Merudy pleaded, embarrassed and conflicted, "Stop…"

"Never…" He told her with a hushed but desperate tone, "I can't."

He lowered his face only inches from her face; and Merudy struggled with herself to not close the gap; her resistance to him was crumbling.

"Meldy… I want you to live forever," Zancrow reminded her, "Because the only way I could live forever is if I knew you were still around…

"And I know this is all selfish of me," He admitted, bringing his right hand up to her face, just barely stopping himself from touching her, "But imagine the good we could do together with all that time, never aging and only growing stronger and smarter…"

"Zancrow," She asked nervously and quietly, trying to hide the suppressed excitement in her tone as he lowered his hand to the rail again, "If I say yes... it's an answer to more than one question, isn't it?"

"If you want it to be." He whispered back before leaning forward until the side of his face was next to her left ear, "And I think you do, because you love me… It's been that way for years now."

Time seemed to stop for the two; and a tense moment passed as Merudy tried to argue, but found she could not. Zancrow pulled his face back, showering her a slight, triumphant grin that she found to be cute. Before she could question what she was thinking, her desires took over and she used her hands on the rail behind her to shove herself against him, planting her lips onto his and knocking his hood off in the process. He instantly returned the kiss, leaning back into her as he moved his hands. His right hand removed her hood to reveal her pink hair and set aside her earmuffs before returning to her face to hold the left side of her head softly, and his left hand glided over the rail until it lowered onto her right hand. Eventually, tongue-tying was not enough for Merudy; and she backed against the railing before moving her hands as well. Her left hand reached to hold his right in place; and her right hand turned over and grabbed his left, bringing it closer before he grabbed her waist with it. Even through the cloak and other clothing that was partially covered by it, she could feel the warmth of his hand on her side just as well as she could feel the warmth of his other hand on her face. Moving her left hand next, Merudy brought it up to run it through his wild yellow hair, surprised at how soft it felt. The hand on her waist snaked upward, rubbing across her body and bunching up her cloak as he massaged her.

Merudy began to moan before she needed air, and she pulled her mouth away from his with a faint gasp. He breathed heavily with her as he held her close against him; and he moved his right hand down to help his left, pulling her by her waist and wrapping his arms behind her. If he looked down, he knew he could see the white and gold trim at the top of her red dress; but he knew he could also see an ample amount of her cleavage, which he decided earlier to avoid looking at for fear of staring too long.

He was thinking of what to say as she moved her hands, and he began to speak as she wrapped her arms over his shoulders.

"I knew it." He said with a smirk before getting serious, "I always thought you did, but I need to hear you say it… Please, Meldy, answer me."

She loved the way he said her name softly; and even in the middle of a demanding statement, her name would still be used gently. That small fact was one of the many reasons for her answer:

"Zancrow… I never wanted to, because we are going to be on opposite sides of the war… and we could both die." She explained, and he could see she was holding back tears, "I never wanted to because I don't want any more pain; but somehow I still did, I still fell in love with you."

"Ice Queen Senior's heart would be broken if he learned that." Zancrow joked with a grin.

"I give you a serious answer to a very serious question, and that's when you decide to start making jokes?" Merudy remarked humorously, blinking water out of her eyes as she spoke, "And about poor Lyon too?"

"You're smiling," Zancrow pointed out in response, "So it seems to have worked to me."

"But I do understand." He added seriously before she could reply, "I tried my hardest to distance myself from you at first; but it never worked."

"You know we can't be with each other very often." She reminded him sadly, "I don't know if we'd even be around each other enough to even say we're a thing."

"There's no requirement for you to say we're together to anyone," Zancrow informed her, "In the end, it only matters that _we_ know we are."

"And that you know I love you, Meldy." He added at the end before putting his lips to hers once again. She began to return the kiss when he pulled back from her and added with a chuckle, "Even if you haven't answered the other question yet."

"You know how big that kind of decision is." Merudy reminded him gently, "I think it would be amazing to do all those things you've suggested, but I also think I should just take some time to think about it."

"I think I understand." Zancrow agreed honestly before adding, "And you'll have all the time to think about it while my Master lives. For now, I'm more than happy with just knowing how you feel about me."

"Thank you." She said gratefully, relieved that he was not going to demand an immediate answer from her, "And I do love you, Zancrow, it's just that we barely see each other; and I don't like the separation…"

"That's why I've always tried to make every moment with you count." He informed her, pressing her tighter against him, "It's how I've been coping."

Merudy looked into his eyes as he spoke before something in his advice sparked her imagination, which became over-active after Zancrow moved his arms to wrap the around her waist again; but this time between her cloak and dress. Feeling his hands more directly now, her body began to heat up under his touch.

"You know, the feeling of heat is normally a strange concept to me." He told her, "But when I touch you, you're warm. When you look at me, I feel hot. And when I look at you, among the million other good things I could say about you, the word 'hot' is usually the first that comes to mind."

Merudy giggled embarrassedly at his joke before she began to feel a sensation that she had not been personally familiar with until not so long ago. Wherever it had ultimately come from, she did not know; and she was slowly deciding if she should give in to the feeling or not. He could see she was thinking about something by her expression, so Zancrow spoke to give her time to think.

"You're probably right about ending up on opposite sides of the fight;" He admitted before swearing, "But I promise, I will make sure that no one touches you."

"I'd try to do the same for you, Zancrow," She replied after having thought to herself for a long moment, "And, um… I also think you're idea of making things count is a good idea. That's why... I-"

She stuttered and stopped talking, making Zancrow look at her with curiosity and interest before asking her, "What is it, Meldy?"

"I wanted… to know… if," She declared, nervous and embarrassed as she spoke before managing to get out a single phrase intact, "Maybe you'd like to stay here… tonight?"

Three main emotions ran through Zancrow's mind as he heard her question. The first was amazement at her even asking the question, the second was triumphant pride that she had asked it to him, and the third was the desire to make her as happy as he was.

"My Master did say I could spend tonight however I wanted…" Zancrow replied, giving her a seductive grin as he squeezed her body against his again before lowering his lips to hers. They toyed with each other's mouths for a moment before Merudy took control. She walked Zancrow backwards until his back was pinned against the glass door to her balcony, kissing him passionately the entire time. Her hands were not satisfied with touching the cloak that covered most of his body, and they fumbled with the clasp holding it together at the top of his chest. Zancrow helped her with his cloak as she pulled back for a quick breath before he brought her back in for more kissing, shrugging off the hooded garment as his lips found hers once more. She was delighted to find he was shirtless under the cloak, and she celebrated the fact by running her right hand along his muscular side while her left hand pressed against his chest.

She felt Zancrow moan in her mouth as she played with his muscles, until she gasped into his mouth as she felt his hands boldly reach up the short skirt of her dress and lightly squeeze her buttocks.

"Your clothes are as soft as your skin," He observed after they slowly parted for more air, "I can barely tell the difference between your dress, your skin… or your underwear."

"Stop!" She said playfully yet slightly embarrassed, looking down at his stunning physique to also see he was wearing black, baggy pants and matching color boots. There was a scar on his left abdomen that caught her attention for a moment before he could steal it back.

"You should leave the ogling for me, you know," He told her jokingly before admitting, "I've already done enough of that for the both of us."

"At yourself or at me?" She asked jokingly.

"Both." He answered humorously with a dumb smirk; and she giggled in response before looking around and thinking aloud, "It's getting pretty late, and kinda cold. We should take this inside."

"Are you sure?" Zancrow asked caringly. She nodded an affirmative, and he grinned seductively in response.

"Anything for you, my love." He said, honestly yet teasingly. She gasped in surprise the next instant as Zancrow grabbed her around the top of her black stockings and lifted her by her thighs, making her wrap her arms around him for support as he spun around to face the door with her in his arms. Thinking Zancrow might need help with the door, Merudy looked down to the handle of the sliding glass door to see it being pulled by a small fiery hand before they passed it on their way inside; and the hand disappeared once the door closed behind them, as Zancrow's mind began to focus on making a different kind of magic.

Meanwhile, outside the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…

Mest Gryder had finally gathered his reinforcements, and he appeared with a group of wizards just a few miles from the building, which was visible on the horizon. One of the first in the group to comment on the sight in front of them was Gray Fullbuster.

"That's his magic alright," The ice mage remarked as he recalled his memories of Edo, "I was wondering when he'd turn up again."

"This doesn't look good." Juvia chimed in as she moved to stand by Gray's right before returning to their argument from a few minutes ago, "Are you sure you have to do this without me, my darling? I've heard about how powerful Edo and his God Slayers are; and I know you are strong, my love, but seeing this…"

"I'll be fine." Gray replied, feigning confidence before turning to the rest of the group and trying to change the subject, "I'm just glad I won't be alone. Do we know who we might be dealing with in there?"

"That lightning definitely looks like Orga's." Sting Eucliffe noted from behind them; and Yukino Agria, who was to the Dragon Slayer's left, nodded in agreement before he whined sourly, "I can't believe I've let that creep control him for so long…"

"There was nothing you could have done, Sting; and everyone knows that." Yukino reminded him, grabbing his left arm reassuringly before adding, "But we've got the chance to do something now."

"There's an earth wizard here too." Mest pointed out as he stood between the four and looked at the new terrain around the captured building, "I had wondered what the tremoring was from, but I didn't think I'd find some mountains surrounding the place."

"I've never seen anything like it." Yukino admitted; but Gray wasn't impressed, he was simply puzzled.

"I have." He informed the group as he also explained his confusion, "I saw an Earth God Slayer fight Gajeel and Videl that could do stuff like this; but I saw her get killed too."

"Maybe Edo brought her back, like he did with Zancrow?" Juvia suggested thoughtfully, getting a shrug from Gray in response.

"I guess it's possible." Gray agreed as he recalled, "She was a friend of his too, if I remember."

"We're going up against a team of powerful dark wizards with no fear of death, huh?" Sting observed before sarcastically, "Sounds like a party."

"Do we have a plan of attack?" Yukino asked the group.

"I can get us anywhere in the building," Mest answered first, "But I have no idea what could be waiting for us."

"We'll need to split these guys up if we want to stand a chance," Gray explained next, "They'll be pretty nasty opponents by themselves."

"I'll take Orga." Sting called his opponent.

"And I'll help you." Yukino volunteered, but Gray disagreed with her idea.

"No," He said, getting a look of confusion from Sting and Yukino until he explained, "If this is the same friend of Edo's that made these mountains, your spirits might be useful against her."

"I'll help Sting with his friend, then." Mest decided next before looking to Juvia, who spoke before he could.

"And I shall stay outside and wait for the hostages." She said, showing Gray that she had finally given up her argument, though her tone still held some reluctance.

"Don't worry, we'll be back out here in no time." The ice wizard reassured her before facing his other companions and saying, "Let's go."

The four wizards appeared near the center of the lower tier, standing in the middle of a large courtroom, which had a familiar layout; but its ceiling was removed, and the room itself seemed to have been refurnished. The walls, furniture, and the floor all appeared to be covered in jet black stone; but the coating was jagged and spiky, making the courtroom look more like an oddly-formed cavern without a ceiling.

"What the hell? I barely recognize the place…" Mest said in confusion as soon as he saw his surroundings, "And where's the roof?"

Looking up, the rest of the group only saw black shadows overhead.

"What is this?" Sting thought aloud as he scanned the empty seats around the courtroom, "Some kinda trap?"

"No." Gray shook his head as he replied to the Dragon Slayer, "They're about to challenge us. Edo's guy are theatrical like that."

"Well, at least Ed will be happy to know someone's been paying attention." Cel' Rhea's voice suddenly filled the air, chuckling for a brief moment before adding, "Even if you ruined the surprise."

"Quit hiding!" Mest demanded in frustration.

"Hiding?" Cel repeated humorously, "I've been with all of you ever since you appeared outside the building; and longer than that, actually."

"What does that mean?" Sting questioned, slightly puzzled. In answer to his question, the ground beneath the group's feet began to quake; and the four heroes watched as every empty seat in the courtroom was filled by at least thirty Cel Rhea's, who had the replicas of herself emerge and stand in front of their own seats.

"My body is the earth, and all that belongs to it." Cel informed her enemies sinisterly, "I'm always with you, whether you like it or not. I even heard about your plan to split us up; but I'll entertain it. It's not like it'll make much of a difference."

"Like I give a damn!" Sting shouted before barking at the earth mage, "Where is Orga?!"

"He'll be here, I promise." She answered, successfully attempting to annoy Sting further, "He's been looking forward to seeing you again, actually."

"That's it!" Eucliffe declared before aiming an attack at some of Cel's moving and talking statues, "White Dragon's-"

"NO! Wait!" Mest immediately screamed at Sting, just barely in time to stop the slayer from casting his spell. Before Sting could ask him what was up, Mest teleported next to the replica that stood in front the chairman's seat, examining it closely while it grinned devilishly at him.

"What have you done?" He questioned Cel as his magic sense told him something sinister about the puppets, "Why!?"

Cel began to chuckle darkly while the others remained confused.

"Turn them back, now!" the Fairy Tail agent ordered her "They did nothing to you!"

"Those statues…" Yukino asked grimly as she deduced the source of Mest's anger, "Are they the hostages?"

The next instant, the air was filled with the sounds of stone cracking as all of the faces of the replicas fell off; but the next sound, a deafening cacophony of cries and shouts for help, revealed that each statue of Rhea was actually a captive under Cel's physical control.

Before the four could do anything to help the crowd, it went silent once again as Cel's face stretched back over all of the hostages'.

"What do you want?" Gray spoke next, sounding as if he was barely keeping his cool.

"Entertainment, mostly." Cel answered honestly, "There are a few other motives, rest assured; but I don't think you'd want me to spoil everything, would you?"

Before anyone could respond, the lightning storm from above began to intensify, snaking under the floating section of the building after it engulfed the entire structure above; and the thunder made the ground shake as the lightning cracked repeatedly, crackling closer to the top of the courtroom all the while. The sound was deafening; and the four had to cover their ears until one very large bolt of lightning struck the ground in the center of the arena, obscuring the area it struck with a large cloud of smoke. Once the smoke cleared, the group could see the Lightning God Slayer standing at the epicenter; and he was ready to fight.

"Orga!" Yukino exclaimed with some concern; but Sting cut her off before she could say more.

"Orga! Stop this!" Sting yelled at his friend, "This has gone too far!"

"Oooh… someone sounds upset." Cel's voice teased the Sabertooth master, making Orga chuckle in the process, before it added, "Perhaps you should listen to him, Orga; You know I'd be more than eager to kill them all myself."

"No way!" The male God Slayer replied enthusiastically, "You're not having all the fun!"

Orga turned to face Sting; and he gave the Dragon Slayer a challenging stare before taking a fighting stance and speaking, "I've been waiting for this, Sting."

Before either of the two could say anything more to each other, Mest appeared between them before challenging Orga, "You don't mind if I get in on the fun too, do you?"

Back on Earth…

"So yeah, that's pretty much it." Iga said thoughtfully as he wrapped up his summary of recent Earthland history, "An immortal death wizard rules most of the planet, probably as a front-man for my once-best-friend; and a guild's 'jobs' usually consist of military activities. If you're not guarding wagons and trains, patrolling, or scouting; you're doing the other jobs for what's left of the civilians, who are just barely scraping by in all this."

"It sounds pretty terrible, right?" Iga asked humorously, though everyone could tell he was forcing himself to sound positive. Only Piccolo humored his weak effort with a chuckle while the others began to question him.

"So Wendy is okay…" Goten thought aloud to himself, though he didn't mean to actually express his relief aloud, "And she's really kept training her ki all this time?"

"That's what I said." Iga affirmed, "Her energy is noticeable from anywhere on the planet, and 'noticeable' might be an understatement."

"I know how Mirajane and Elfman are doing," Trunks questioned his master next, "But how are Erza and Gray doing? And what about Juvia?"

"They're all just fine." The immortal assured his pupil, "Last time I checked, Erza's been busy doing high-level S Class work for the kingdom; and I've heard she's never failed a job, despite the current work environment."

"Gray and Juvia, after officially forming a team together, have figured out that they make a very lethal pair in combat; and they typically take on both military and civilian jobs, usually just to go wherever their guildmates need them." Iga finished his list for Trunks.

"Do you know how Jellal's been?" Gohan asked the redhead curiously, and the divine human gave him a shrug before answering.

"It's hard to tell with him sometimes." Iga stated honestly, "He's been keeping himself busy all this time, doing his best to hunt Zeref and Edo with his network of outlaws, and all that. But if you're worried about his mental state, well… To be honest, I don't think he'll ever be okay, not until Zeref's been taken out at least."

"I'm guessing he and Erza aren't a thing then," Videl remarked with some disappointment, and she got another nod from Iga.

"What about Natsu and Lucy? And Happy? How are they?" Goten asked next; but the question got another awkward expression from Iga,

"Well," the redhead began after nervously rubbing the side of his head with one hand, "Lucy and Happy are doing pretty well, as far as I know. But, Natsu… Well, how do I put this…?"

The few in the group that knew the Salamander were concerned with Iga's reluctance to answer. Before anyone could pry the answer from him; however, the room's attention suddenly became focused on one stranger, who was wearing a shabby, large, and brown hooded cloak and standing at the very front of the atrium as he began to laugh aloud. Wondering if there was something funny that they missed, the party goers looked at the man by the front doors for a brief moment until they started to feel awkward as they realized his laughter was starting to sound derisive. A few of the older Z fighters moved to approach him as soon as they realized he was an uninvited guest; but it was the group in the back that noticed there was something more to this man.

Gohan and Iga gave the man identical scrutinizing glares while Trunks was slowly inching in front of Lisanna. Goten had notice Trunks' protective move; and he immediately began to move through the crowd slowly, wanting to be up front just in case something happened. Vegeta was standing off to the side, discreetly honing his ki; and Goku was doing the same, preparing to shield the people around him after he noticed that the other god-ki users suddenly had their guards up. They were the first in the room to recognize their unwanted guest for the threat that he was; and he was a very dangerous one at that.

"Please, don't let me interrupt." He pleaded with Iga humorously, "I really wanted to hear your answer before I gave mine.

"Where is Natsu, Igneel?" He questioned, and then he looked directly at Gohan before throwing his dusty oversized cloak off to reveal his identity.

But before the dark wizard could speak, Gohan's hands were latched onto the collar of his now-revealed fanged cloak before they slammed him against the wall to the right of the atrium's front doors, nearly breaking through it in the process. In response, he made a fake wince before he chuckled again.

"I missed this." Edo told the demi-Saiyan cheerfully; but Gohan was not amused.

"I didn't." He replied to the dark immortal, "Why did you come to Earth? What have you done?"

"I heard there was a party, an-" Edo feigned sincerity until Gohan cut him off by slamming him against the wall again, making more pieces of the wall crumble to the ground. Most of the group stood back to watch the interaction; but Goku was concerned, having only seen that angry face on his son one other time in his life.

"Gohan," the elder Saiyan asked as he stepped near the two, "What's going on?"

"This is him, Dad." Gohan answered without moving his eyes away from the dark wizard, "This is Edo."

"The pleasure is all mine." Edo introduced himself while giving the pure-blooded Saiyan a smirk and a friendly wave of his right hand, "I've always wanted to meet the great Kakarot in person."

"You know my Saiyan name?" Goku remarked with some surprise.

"I know a lot of things." Edo stated, locking eyes with Gohan as he spoke, "One could say that I know everything."

"And one could say you're just insane," Gohan retorted before restating his first question, "Now tell me why you're here."

"Gladly." Edo replied happily, "But it would be a little easier to do that without your hands around my neck, if you don't mind."

Gohan was reluctant to release him until Edo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine; I promise I won't kill anyone while I'm here." The immortal swore; and Gohan waited for a long, tense moment before releasing Edo and stepping back a couple feet.

"Talk." Gohan said impatiently as Goku moved to stand to his left. Goten was just behind the two, about to move to Gohan's right; but Trunks and Iga stayed in the back, preparing for any appearance of Edo's God Slayer's.

"You know how to make a guy feel welcome, you know that?" Edo joked with Gohan before getting to his real answer, though only peaking after dusting off his cloak and adjusting his hood.

"I'm sorry about the fit of laughter I had on my way in," He apologized with some humor, projecting his voice so the whole room could hear him, "But I just find it funny, seeing how poorly Igneel keeps his friends informed. It's almost like he doesn't respect you, like you're something below him."

Iga muttered his disagreement with the statement; but he knew that now was not the time for squabbling, deciding to let his enemy continue despite his irritation.

"When I came in here, you were asking about Natsu Dragneel, correct?" Edo asked Goten, who was finally standing in front of him as well, "You wanted to know how he's been?"

Goten was apprehensive about the topic; but he gave the wizard a slight nod, still curious about his friend.

"Well, I'm glad I'm here now." Edo remarked cockily, "You see, if there's anyone that you should ask about the Salamander, it's me. Honestly, I'm probably the only person with any accurate information; given that Natsu's been my prisoner for some time now."

"What?!" Gohan, Videl, and Trunks exclaimed simultaneously; but Goten was a little angrier.

"You kidnapped Natsu?!" the young demi-Saiyan shouted.

"That's right." Edo affirmed with a sinister grin, "Ever since your brother has had that little ring over his head, I've had your pink-headed friend spending all his days and nights in my Shadow."

Goten moved to attack Edo; but Goku was quick enough to get ahead of him and try to calm him, blocking his path before putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Gohan's angered reaction, on the other hand, was directed more towards Iga than Edo; as Gohan gave the redhead a serious gaze before looking back to Edo, who only chuckled at the group's reactions.

"It seems my old friend is somehow better at keeping people in the dark than I am." Edo taunted the group, "I mean, I expected the youngest of the Son boys to be surprised; but to see that Igneel's pupil _and_ his champion are also out of the loop… Oh, Igneel…"

Before anyone could reply, Edo disappeared into a portal that appeared under him; and a few suddenly became concerned, but Edo reappeared an instant later from a portal on the ground next to Iga, Trunks, and Lisanna.

"Tell me, Igneel," The dark wizard teased his rival as he watched Trunks step between him and Lisanna, "How long did it take you to convince Lisanna to keep such a secret from her beloved? What did you tell her that eased her guilt just enough to make her cooperate?"

Trunks glanced at Lisanna questioningly, and she gave him an apologetic expression before he looked to his Master.

"Is it true?" Trunks asked the redhead curiously, "Has he really been keeping Natsu prisoner?"

"It's true." Iga confirmed with a stern nod.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Trunks questioned, feeling slightly affected by Edo's words.

"I was worried you'd try to save him before you were ready." Iga explained himself; but Edo decided to interrupt their conversation.

"An amusing thought, at best; but it's another topic for another discussion." The dark wizard remarked, "What's important now is that people have realized exactly what they all think of each other.

"I know these people are just mere mortals, Igneel; but you could be a little more considerate about what you have your servants do." Edo poured salt into his rival's wound, "I'd hate to see you undermine such a beautiful relationship by making them keep secrets from each other. In fact, I think you're being a little hypocritical; since I know for a fact that you would have been destroyed to know Ves had kept things from you."

Trunks instantly gave his Master a confused look, not recognizing the name 'Ves', but understanding the analogy enough to realize that Edo's statement was a very personal dig.

"Don't you dare speak of her, Acnologia." Igneel warned his enemy darkly, "Not a damn word."

Edo only responded by chuckling at Iga before changing the subject.

"It's good to see you still remember; I guess that means there's still room for progress after all." Edo teased,

"And speaking of progress… let me show you something that I've been making progress with."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter IV: Reunion

Within the Capsule Corp.'s atrium…

Edo grinned mischievously as a new stranger entered the room, who sprung from a portal on the ground just to the dark wizard's left; and Edo greeted the newcomer by wrapping his left arm over his shoulders playfully. Edo looked at Gohan to gauge the demi-Saiyan's reaction; but he noticed Gohan was still trying to identify the new guest, whose figure was shrouded by a black and orange flame.

"It's sad, honestly." The Shadow wizard remarked thoughtfully as he released his grip on the fiery figure's shoulders, "Everyone here looks at me and sees a monster; but have any of you ever thought that there are things out there worse than me?"

"I have, actually." Iga interrupted, finally losing some of his patience, "I just know that there isn't."

"Even after considering this new foe you seek to challenge?" Edo retorted, "What did that feline call himself, a Keeper? Because of your selfish actions, you're entire planet's fate could hinge on the whims of killers of Destroyer Gods; and for what? Love?"

Edo had looked directly at Goten as he added a cynical tone to his last few words; and he smirked at the teen demi-Saiyan's irked expression before continuing his speech.

"You see, I didn't come here to cause chaos; and I didn't come here to harm any of you. I am here to clear the air, because we both have a few problems; and if we don't create some solutions for these problems, there won't be any worlds left for us to fight over."

"Are you saying you want to fight the Keepers with us?" Trunks asked him curiously.

"An amusing thought," Edo replied with a joyful smirk, "But no, there are other important matters to attend to; and that won't happen if we all run off to 'fight the good fight!'

"This threat from the stars is quite formidable, though; so I have decided that I will aid in your endeavor, seeing as doing so will kill a few birds with one stone."

Most of the crowd gave him confused looks as they tried to figure out his endgame until Videl decided to question him first.

"And just what 'birds' are you trying to kill?" She asked pointedly, and Edo chuckled at her before answering.

"I assume you remember hearing of the Black Wizard Zeref, or of my Earthland counterpart, yes?" He explained to her, "As powerful as I am, Zeref's curse prevents me from killing him; in fact, there's only one person in existence who can end him now. And I don't feel like technically killing myself, so I figure the guy that'd kill Zeref would take a dragon no problem. Oh, if only I had that person on my side…

"And then I found myself in possession of a Dragon Slayer, and a very special one at that. You see, he's not just Natsu Dragneel…"

As soon as Edo said the Dragon Slayer's name, the black and orange flames dissipated; and the pink-haired wizard came stumbling out of them, nearly collapsing to the floor until Goten caught him.

"He is Etherius Natsu Dragneel," Edo said as he watched Natsu slowly begin to regain control of his body, seeing the Slayer take his time at trying to stand on his own, "A four hundred year old, time travelling demon created by Zeref himself; or should I say, to be more correct… by Zeref Dragneel, his older brother."

Trunks was glad to notice that even Lisanna seemed to be surprised by this revelation; and he quickly looked around the room to see the several different surprised reactions from his friends. Only Iga seemed unsurprised in any way; but that was no shock to Trunks by this point.

"Natsu is… a demon?" Lisanna remarked as she processed the new information; and she looked toward Natsu, who was waiting to see her reaction in nervous silence as he finished regaining control of his own body. Edo practically giggled at the wizards' silent exchange before speaking again.

"He's not just any demon, my dear, he's THE demon." He informed her, "The sole purpose for E.N.D.'s existence is to eliminate Zeref, just like the other demons from his brother's Books; but he has more power than all the other demons combined. For not only is capable of defeating the second most evil man Earthland's ever seen; but he's also been given the power to slay the Dragon King, all part of the plan that's been hundreds of years in the making."

Most of the group was silent as they tried to process or comprehend the information they were being given; and only a handful of the Z fighters were on the same page as Edo, with Gohan and Iga being two of them.

"Natsu is important." Iga agreed before inquiring, "But why bring him here instead of just ending the war back home?"

"As far as I'm concerned, the ceasefire is ideal; and ending the conflict wouldn't benefit me at the moment." Edo replied thoughtfully, "If Natsu ever returns to Fiore, I'm sure that the first thing he'll do is end this nasty business with his brother. And thanks to his brother, I've been able to rule Earthland from the Shadows; so I'd rather maintain that for a little longer."

"And what's to stop me from simply bringing Natsu back there?" Iga remarked impatiently, "Maybe I'd like to see that smirk get taken off your face again."

Iga saw his rival's eyes flash with irritation for a split-second before the rest of Edo displayed amusement, seeing the dark wizard smile amiably before turning to the rest of their audience and speaking.

"I'm going to poll the room." He declared happily before looking directly at Gohan, Videl, and Pan and asking, "Why do you think I brought him here?"

"I don't give a crap why you brought me here!" Natsu finally cut in, having recovered and regained his bearings; and he was ready to show Edo exactly how enraged he was, yelling as he charged forward with large and bright orange flames in hand. The fire mage got nearly a few feet towards Edo until the dark wizard waved his right hand lazily; and Natsu's body tensed up before he fell forward, locked stiffly in his charging stance.

"Natsu!" Lisanna shouted in concern just as Goten caught the frozen Dragon Slayer before standing him up.

"What did you do to him?" Trunks demanded quickly, getting ready to attack the dark wizard if he had to.

"Calm down," Edo replied with an annoyed tone, "I've never hurt your friend and I don't intend to. This is just a simple body-lock.

"Due to mastering everything my Shadows could discover about curses," He continued, "I have learned how to control all things dark magic; and since Natsu's entire body is ultimately held together by a dark wizard's power…"

The dark wizard let Gohan finish his sentence.

"You can steal control of Natsu; maybe even possess him." The demi-Saiyan said darkly, wearing a poor excuse for a calm face as he spoke; and he felt his wife place a hand on his arm reassuringly before he decided he had more to say.

"And I know why you brought him here." Gohan told the dark wizard seriously, "You said Natsu's also travelled through time somehow, that means he's in danger anywhere he goes. Now that you've let the cat out the bag."

"Yeah," Iga agreed as he realized the demi-Saiyan's point, "I'm sure the Keepers know by now. And I'm willing to bet they're going to come for him too."

"So we have to protect him." Goten caught on aloud; but Natsu shook his head faintly as he finally recovered, before cutting back into the conversation.

"Protect me?" the Salamander repeated the phrase as if it had insulted him, "Screw that! Just tell me where these creeps are; and I'll burn 'em to crisp. We gotta get back to Fairy Tail!"

On Earthland, in the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…

Sting Eucliffe groaned as he slowly rolled onto his back just after landing in a heap, taking a moment to get over the pain of Orga's latest attack. The White Dragon Slayer was now located on the floating tier of the Council building, having been blasted into it from the courtroom below until a couple ceilings ended his ascent; and he was fortunate enough that one of the busted floors was able to catch him on his way back down. Feeling that some of the pain had subsided, Sting began to sit up and scan the room; but he only had a couple seconds before his ally's appearance caught his attention.

"Are you alright, Sting?" Mest Gryder questioned immediately after teleporting in front the Dragon Slayer's feet; but Sting rose to his feet before Mest could extend a hand.

"I've been better," the Dragon Slayer admitted, trying to pump himself up with anger as he added, "But it doesn't matter how I am. I have to save Orga; and I'm tired of this playing around!"

Mest watched as Sting's dragonforce activated; and he had to take a step back and shield his eyes from the pressure and radiance of the Slayer's magic aura. The display was impressive; but the moment ended as Orga appeared to Mest's left, breaking through the wall between them before stepping through and giving Sting a grin.

"I remember when I feared your power." The God Slayer taunted before making a fighting stance and adding, "But there's no light that could defeat my Master's Shadow, an-"

"I'M YOUR MASTER!" Sting roared in rage as he slapped his hands together, as if he were praying, before separating his palms while keeping his fingertips in contact with each other; and bright white light filled the space between his hands.

"White Dragon's…" He chanted quickly before he yanked his hands apart, extending them horizontally at his sides and expanding the luminous sphere in front of him.

Orga recognized the spell in an instant; and he dashed toward Sting in an attempt to prevent it's casting, until he was cut off by Mest. The teleporting mage warped in front of Orga before landing a kick with his right foot against the side of his surprised enemy's face, creating a successful diversion for Sting in the process; and he warped away from a staggering Orga just as Sting finished his incantation.

"HOLY RAY!"

As Sting shouted, an intense barrage of white rays erupted from his magic sphere; and every single projectile struck the God Slayer in rapid succession, who was too slow to put up any form of defense. Orga roared in pain as most of his body was pelted with incredible amounts of magical energy; and he staggered backwards in response, barely keeping his balance as he endured the attack. The barrage ended after a moment; but Mest knew he and Sting needed to keep attacking while they had the upper hand, and he warped in front of Orga before the smoke could clear before throwing a right punch at his foe's face while yelling to his ally.

"Keep attacking!" He shouted as his fist connected, making Orga stumble backwards a few more steps before Sting obeyed his ally's command.

"White Dragon's ROAR!"

From across the room, the Dragon Slayer fired the breath attack barely past Mest's right side before it collided into Orga; and the God Slayer was shot through the crumbling wall behind him from the resulting explosion. Emerging outdoors as large amounts of rubble fell out the building with him, Orga was about to stop his fall until he heard Sting shout to Mest.

"Get me above him!"

Just as Orga slowed his descent and looked up, the two appeared a few yards above and in front of him; and Sting unleashed another breath attack at him instantly.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"

From the courtroom below, Gray and Yukino looked up to see Orga get struck by a massive beam of white light; and they watched it carry him downwards before hearing it crash somewhere out of sight and explode. The area was quiet for just a moment after the spell's detonation, until Gray smirked triumphantly as he looked back at Cel Rhea.

"Looks like you guys aren't as big and bad as you act." He taunted her coolly; but she did not seemed bothered by the remark, even chuckling before responding.

"Orga's nowhere near finished, I promise." She stated matter-of-factly, "He may be slower and weaker than myself, but he can take a beating. I'm sure he's still just playing around with them."

Cel took a moment to look around the room before she spoke again, looking at the pair of wizards in front of her, and at the multiple piles of broken black rocks around them that used to be her golems. Her white haired foe was showing signs of slight fatigue, but the ice wizard was as cool as ever; and she couldn't help but smirk before commenting on his bravado.

"I'm not sure if this cockiness of yours is a façade or not, but I will say; it is impressive. Taking down that many of my creations must have been tiring, but you don't appear to have even broken a sweat."

She gestured to Yukino with a nod of her head, "Unlike the tigress over here, it looks like she's just trying to keep up. No wonder Fairy Tail won the Grand Magic Games, am I right?"

"And just how long do you plan on rambling?" Gray questioned her instead of answering. Irritation flashed on Cel's face for a brief moment before she smiled at him amusedly and replied.

"I don't think you'd want me to stop talking." She informed him darkly, "Because as soon as that's done, I'm going to kill the celestial mage; and then I'm going to take you as my prisoner. And I'm going to talk to you every day, until you die miserable and without friends. That's if my magnificent charm doesn't win you over."

"I'm sure I'd love that." Gray told her sarcastically while she chuckled before readying himself for more fighting, placing his right fist on his open left palm as he held his hands in front of himself.

"And don't underestimate Sabertooth," Yukino chipped in, "We might be a younger guild, but we can be just as strong as Fairy Tail; and I'm going to do what I have to, to protect my friends!"

Cel Rhea held her amused expression as she gathered some of her magic energy, preparing to focus it into a spell while she talked, "How adorable. But I'm starting to wonder if you'll be this gung-ho after I've started grinding you into the earth."

Yukino pulled out both her golden keys the next instant; and Gray started preparing to attack, but Cel was the first to cast a spell.

"Now die, like a good little girl! Earth God's Bellow!"

A jet black torrent of rocks soared straight for Yukino's head, and the celestial mage was quick enough to dodge it; but the attack suddenly began to curve back around at her before it could hit the wall behind its target. Yukino jumped to her right to successfully dodge it, making Gray also move to his right to avoid letting her run into him; but the spell turned back towards Yukino once more. Yukino was getting ready to dodge it again; but Gray suddenly intervened, casting his own spell to block Cel's attack.

"Ice Make: Shield!" He quickly yelled before creating a large shield of blue ice in front of Yukino that caused the God Slayer's spell to explode with it upon impact.

"You see, Sabertooth?" Cel remarked to Yukino humorously as the smoke and water vapor cleared, "Even now, the fairy's protecting you. And it's getting rather annoying, actually."

Before Gray could say something, Cel stomped her right foot onto the ground; and in response, a large and flat-topped column of dark rock rose from under Gray's feet in an instant, carrying him a few stories up before he could react. Yukino had watched Gray go up with the pillar for only a moment, but it was long enough for Cel to take advantage of the distraction.

"Earth God's Quake!" She chanted next, and the ground underneath Yukino ripped open, "Fall into the earth, where you belong!"

The white haired wizard began to fall into the large crevice for a couple of seconds until she finally managed to summon another spirit.

"Libra!" She called out with a hint of desperation, and the celestial spirit appeared just above her before manipulating the gravity around them to lift them both out of the hole. The two landed on their feet smoothly the next moment; and Cel looked at them with amusement before Gray caught both of their attentions.

"Ice Make: Jackhammer!" He shouted, and an icy construction tool suddenly appeared in his hands before he used it to turn the rocky pillar into rubble from the top to bottom. He landed on his feet smoothly as the jackhammer vanished from his hands; and then he smirked at his spectators, but Cel was the first to speak up.

"You smile as if you're about to win," She noted as she looked Gray over, "But you do remember my Titan Form, don't you? You know I could end this at any moment, if I chose to."

"'Titan form'?" Yukino repeated curiously, wondering if she should be nervous; but she could see that Gray seemed un-phased by the dark wizard's threat.

"Yeah, I remember it." The ice mage replied to their enemy, "But I'm not really that worried; I started coming up with a plan to deal with it as soon as I thought you were here."

"Oh?" Cel questioned with amusement, "Well, maybe I should put that plan to the test."

Suddenly the entire courtroom began to tremor; and the two light guild wizards watched as their foe's body turned to stone, though Rhea was still able to speak as her transformation began.

"And then I'll send you back to the earth where you belong!"

Yukino timidly took a step back before looking to Gray and asking him, "What's happening?!"

Before Gray answered, he quickly glanced to Cel to see her black-stone body beginning to grow rapidly; and he grabbed Yukino by the wrist before springing away from their foe and shouting.

"We're running, that's what's happening! We've got to get out of this building before she brings it down around us!"

Back on Earth…

Having taken a long moment to calm Natsu down, the Z fighters continued to keep their eyes on Edo as he finally resumed his conversation.

"Now that we've gotten a hold of our tempers," He said to poke at Natsu before continuing, "I'd like to add two more things before I go."

Gohan and Iga exchanged wary glances before turning back to watch Edo closely with the others before letting him begin his list.

"I hope you can forgive me for the hypocrisy; but everything I've said about Natsu must never leave this room, at least not yet." He stipulated boldly, "And if my Shadows find even one of you talking about this, I'll split Natsu's neck in an instant; and I'll let his dear older brother crush Fairy Tail beneath his feet. Maybe I'll feed the guild to my pet Dragon King before that, too; it has been a while since he's had a nice bloodbath, and I know a few other Dragon Slayers that would do just nicely; with a few alterations of course…"

"You won't touch Wendy!" Goten immediately shouted at him, more than angry with the clear threat; but Edo was unimpressed, only smirking knowingly at the demi-Saiyan before responding.

"Just so you know, I do want to see you suffer for the annoyance that you've become," Edo explained honestly, "But I have no need to try and take the Sky Maiden from you; someone's already taking care of that for me."

"What?!" Goten demanded immediately, taking a few heavy-footed steps closer towards the dark wizard as he spoke; and Edo wasted no time in savoring the demi-Saiyan's reaction before adding:

"That's right. And by the time you get to Earthland, it'll be too late. She won't be yours anymore; and even if you might be able stand the sight of her by then, you'll never be with her. Ever…. again."

Goten was confused by most of what he was hearing; but he did feel a fear of impending tragedy from hearing Edo's words. He glanced nervously at his family and friends before trying to get more from Edo.

"What are talking about? Is Wendy in danger?" He interrogated the wizard as he moved another few steps closer; and the other god-ki users tensed up as they readied to intervene if they had to, noticing Goten's growing anger as he yelled at Edo.

"Tell me!"

"Relax, she's not in THAT kind of danger. See for yourself." Edo replied; and he waved his left hand lazily to make a portal appear on the floor in front of Goten before offering kindly, "I'll even hold this rift open for you, if you don't like what you're seeing and feel the need to intervene."

Goten was not sure if he should be grateful for the help, or if he should even look through the portal; but his fear and curiosity overrode his hesitation and he looked, despite a last-second cautionary glance from Trunks. If he was confused by Edo's words already, he was now puzzled by what he saw; but Edo had also begun to speak again, successfully pulling the other's attentions away from the distracted demi-Saiyan.

"Now where was I?" the dark wizard thought aloud, "Oh right, I had one more thing to say."

Edo looked over the entire room before ending his list, "These Keepers you've chosen to challenge, they have magic that prevents me from locating them; and it's becoming a point of frustration for me. So, if you would be so kind, I'd be overjoyed if you could share this information with me, before you bring them down. Swear to pay me this kindness; and I'll return the favor by saving some of your friends tonight. There's a little scuffle going on right now, involving a couple God Slayers, two tigers, and two fairies; but there's only one way everyone comes out of that alive, and that's with my help."

Gohan, Videl, Trunks, Iga and Lisanna all exchanged thoughtful glances at each other before Edo pressed the issue.

"So what's it going to be?" He tried to hasten a decision, but Goten interrupted them with an angry and stunned shout.

"No!" He yelled, still in his own world, before he moved to jump into the portal; but Trunks was quick enough to grab him by an arm before he leapt into it.

"Goten, wait!" Trunks called out just as he grabbed his best friend, "We can't just run back to Earthland."

"I know," Goten shook his head as he replied and his friend released him, "But I can't risk it, if something's going to happen to her…"

"Let me see." Trunks calmly requested before moving to get a better look at the rift; but he only saw an image of Wendy Marvell walking next to Romeo Conbolt, appearing to be walking out of some diner in Magnolia.

"I don't see anything, Goten." Trunks observed honestly, but his best friend was unconvinced.

"Look at his face." The younger demi-Saiyan told him, gesturing to the dark wizard as he spoke, "He's not lying when he says that something's going to happen."

Trunks looked at Edo, who only grinned at the two devilishly.

"I need to be there." Goten suddenly decided, "She won't even see me, but I have to make sure she's safe."

Gohan and a few others in the room were also about to try changing his mind, but he gave them no chance by leaping in the next moment; and a few people in the room suddenly became fearful for the demi-Saiyan the moment he had vanished. Trunks was about to jump in after Goten, but the portal his friend left through disappeared; and everyone in the room immediately snapped their attention back to Edo.

"What are you doing?!" Trunks demanded in confusion, "You said you'd hold it open for him!"

"True." Edo parried nonchalantly, "But you're not him, are you?"

"Weren't you agreeing to help us?! Open the portal!" Trunks demanded, "Now!"

Deciding he had enough of entertaining his rival, Iga quickly created his own portal underneath himself as he decided to go after Goten himself; and he arrived in Earthland before anyone back at C.C. could react, arriving in the center of an empty road that led to Fairy Hills. Looking ahead, he could see he had a few minutes before Wendy and Romeo would be where he was standing; so he quickly moved to chase after Goten, who was trying to find any kind of decent hiding spot. Unfortunately for the demi-Saiyan, the terrain around him was mostly flat and grassy, with sometimes an occasional hill; and there were no tall trees or shrubbery to hide behind. Iga shook his head at Goten before quickly catching up to him; and he gently grabbed Goten by the left shoulder with his right hand, trying to be reassuring as he spoke.

"C'mon, kid, she's safe." He pointed out, "There's no one around for miles that would even think about attacking her. And there's even less who could survive doing just that."

"No." Goten shrugged off Iga's hand as he replied, "Edo could have one of his goons coming after her."

"He's not going to come after her." Iga argued calmly, "He said he wouldn't."

"Because someone else is going to hurt her." The demi-Saiyan paraphrased the dark wizard's words, and then he gave Iga a stern glare before ordering the immortal, "I'm staying until I know she's safe, so get the hell out of my way."

Goten moved to take flight, planting his feet in preparation to launch before Iga finally gave up.

"Alright, alright. Calm down," The redhead sighed in exasperation, "We can both keep an eye on her. Here."

Iga pulled out a small white lacrima from his left pants pocket before tapping it twice and tossing it to the demi-Saiyan, who caught it and instantly became invisible to everything except Iga.

"I guess if we are going to stalk someone," Iga remarked humorously as his own magic rendered him invisible, "We can at least do it right."

Goten was about to make his gratitude known, but Iga kept talking.

"Just follow me. If you have to move, don't use your feet; and stay absolutely quiet." He instructed Goten quickly as he realized he could begin to hear Wendy and Romeo's conversation.

"I don't know…" the two heard Wendy say thoughtfully, "I haven't thought about it that much, really."

The moment the two wizards were in earshot, Goten's eyes locked onto Wendy; and he had to take a long moment to get over the sudden surreal sensation at seeing her. She was everything he had imagined, and more. It was torture that he had to let her walk past him; but just seeing and hearing her, that was enough to make him feel happier than he had ever been back on Earth.

"Maybe you should." Romeo suggested, "You'd cover at least two months' worth of jobs; and it'd only take half-an-hour, at worst. Heck, I'd definitely buy an issue. Maybe three."

"I know you would." The Sky Maiden laughed with a faint blush that she hoped was unnoticeable, "But I've never modeled for anything like that before, and this is Sorcerer Weekly's first issue in two years. Wouldn't they want someone more popular?"

"And this is where I say you're underestimating yourself, again." He quipped humorously before speaking to her with a slightly serious tone, "Why do you think they want you for the cover? It's because you're the wizard everyone wants to see right now."

Goten saw her give Romeo a curious look, one that he remembered too well; and he couldn't help but smile at the familiar expression before continuing to listen. From everything he was hearing, Goten could tell Wendy had accomplished a lot since he'd last seen her; and judging by her ki, he could tell immediately that she had put everything into her training. Hearing Romeo's words only helped to confirm his observations, and he couldn't help but smirk with some pride in her while he continued to listen.

"You think so?" Wendy asked, about to add more to her question; but a faint, familiar scent caught her attention. She recognized it immediately, there was no way she wouldn't recognize it; but she knew its presence was impossible. She tried putting the puzzling stimuli at the back of her mind, but the mystery of its appearance was getting to her; and she suddenly realized she hadn't been paying attention to Romeo as he suddenly spoke a little louder than before.

"Hello?" He said amusedly, "Earthland to Wendy, are you there?"

"Sorry," She quickly apologized, "I got distracted thinking about something."

"What was it?" The fire mage asked caringly, "The only time you do that is when you're thinking about something important."

"It's nothing." She tried to get past the topic, "I just thought I smelled someone nearby."

"Anyone we know?" Romeo inquired, but Wendy shook her head as she sniffed the air again.

"I couldn't tell." She lied, "And I can't find the scent again."

"Oh well." Her partner remarked, "I guess you're just going to have to suffer and keep walking with me."

"I guess so." Wendy agreed with amusement, exchanging smiles with Romeo as he chuckled at her; but what they did next made Iga instantly nervous.

Wendy looked ahead to see how much father they had, but she quickly looked back to her partner as he quickly grabbed her left hand with his right. And as soon as their fingers were interlocked, Romeo pulled Wendy closer to his side and leaned into her before asking,

"Are you suffering yet?" He interrogated her jokingly, and she giggled before replying.

"Oh, please. You know you're gonna have to do better than that."

"Yeah?" Romeo questioned with a goofy grin on his face, "I think you're bluffing."

"Am I?" She remarked cryptically.

"Oh yeah, I can tell." He affirmed with surety, "I know you'll break eventually."

"We'll see." She challenged him, and the two shared a small chuckle before looking back ahead and changing the conversation.

But while they were having the time of their lives, Iga was hovering a few yards behind them, sweating in nervousness as he realized what Edo truly meant when he spoke of Wendy. And he could feel the looming presence of Goten just behind him, wondering if the demi-Saiyan had connected the dots yet or not; but either way, the situation was turning ugly for him.

"I think we should go." He whispered to Goten quickly, knowing his best option was to get the demi-Saiyan back to Earth as soon as possible, "She's safe, I'm sure."

"No." Goten matched Iga's volume as he replied, but he still managed to put force behind his words, "Not until she's back at Fairy Hills."

"We can't be here any longer." Iga pleaded with him, "The Keepers…"

"I don't care." The demi-Saiyan told him with an impatient look, "And I'm not afraid of them."

He floated past the redhead before returning to listening to Wendy and Romeo. He wasn't lying about staying to make sure she was safe; but Goten had another reason to watch them now, now thinking that there was one thing he had to know before he could go back to Earth.

"-ou really want any pointers, you should talk to Mira." He heard Romeo say, "But it shouldn't be that difficult. I mean, a lot of guys in Fairy Tail have modeled for them too; and you know we're not the brightest bunch around."

"That's not true." Wendy kindly argued, briefly tightening her grip on his hand to show she was serious, "I think you're very smart.

"And sometimes, you're too smart." She added with a faint smile that Romeo quickly matched.

"I knew you had some reason for keeping me around," He remarked humorously, "But I didn't think it was that."

"What did you think it was?" She asked with amused interest.

"I don't know," He thought aloud, "I was hoping it was my infectious sense of humor, or my handsome good looks…"

"Carla would be gagging at your ego right about now." Wendy noted with amusement.

"It's a good thing you're not Carla." Romeo commented back, looking ahead and seeing that they were about to arrive at Fairy Hills as he spoke.

"I mean," He added half-jokingly, but also trying to test the waters, "It'd be weird if I was having a date with a cat."

"So this is a date?" She asked with her tone still sounding amused, instantly picking up on where he was leading the conversation.

"Feels like one to me." He answered with a faint squeeze of her hand before asking her jokingly, "You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all." She replied happily; and Romeo's face lit up with the biggest grin she had ever seen him wear. She twisted her left arm slightly to wrap her arm around Romeo's; and that was the moment that made Iga realize he was about to have a serious mess on his hands, as the immortal heard Goten's right fist clench in anger at the sight.

 _No way…_ Goten said to himself, _There's no way…_

The demi-Saiyan had first thought that Wendy and Romeo's hand-holding was just playful, and though it bothered him, he was able to put it out of his mind. But when Wendy wrapped her arm around Romeo's, that's when he knew what he was watching was serious.

 _She can't..._

Goten could hear nothing but his own thoughts at the moment; and the only thing he saw was the two wizards as they finally reached the front of Fairy Hills.

 _But I'm right here!_

He watched Wendy stand in front of Romeo as their conversation neared its end, but their hands were still together; and Wendy didn't appear to be in a hurry to head inside.

 _This isn't real… Edo's gotta be playing with me!_

"I guess this is good night." He heard Romeo say as his sense of denial forced him to pay attention to the end of the conversation.

"Looks like it." Wendy agreed.

"It's a shame." Romeo commented amusedly, "I was hoping to see you crack after all this torture I've been putting you through."

Wendy giggled faintly before reminding him, "I told you that you were going to have do better than that."

"I thought about it." Romeo replied seriously, though he still kept his humorous tone, "But you didn't want me to do that the other day, so…"

"Wait…" He quickly asked hopefully as he realized exactly what she was saying, "Do you really want me to?"

Wendy took a moment to think before answering with a nod; and to his own surprise, Romeo suddenly grew nervous.

"Okay." He said as he gathered himself, making Wendy giggle at the fact that he needed to prepare; but she couldn't deny that she was just as oddly nervous.

"Wendy," He asked her softly, feeling the need to confess something to her, "Did you notice that I had freaked the other night, too?"

"I didn't." She answered quietly, feeling slightly surprised.

"It was when I went to the bathroom, just before we left for here." He revealed with a faint blush on his face, "I was so scared you were going to reject me… I'm still afraid of that, somehow…"

"Romeo?" Wendy interrupted him, sounding amused yet impatient.

"Yeah?" He replied nervously.

The next moment, Wendy's lips were on Romeo's; and Goten suddenly felt like his gut was being torn apart from the inside.

 _She has…_ the demi-Saiyan realized as his heart shattered on the spot, but he was so stunned that he couldn't pull his eyes away from the two as their kiss deepened. Romeo grabbed Wendy's waist with his free hand and pulled her closer while Wendy used her own free hand to hold his face as they kissed. The two enjoyed the moment immensely, but it was short lived as Wendy suddenly heard something that caught her immediate attention.

"Wendy…" Goten accidentally said her name aloud, making Iga visibly cringe at the pain in his voice; and Wendy noticed the same thing about the disembodied whisper.

Goten and Iga exchanged glances for a brief moment; and the redhead was only able to see that the teen was crying before he suddenly dashed away and took off into the air, flying blindly southward as he ascended rapidly.

Wendy removed her lips from Romeo's when she heard the voice; and she noticed the brief changes in the wind around them the next second, but Romeo hadn't noticed either. Without explaining her actions, Wendy began scanning the area around them.

 _Goten?_ She thought questioningly, knowing that she had smelled him, heard his voice, and could have sworn she felt someone flying away; but then she put the thought aside as Romeo regained her attention.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, noticing that she had tensed up and started looking everywhere for something he couldn't see.

"Nothing." She replied with a shake of her head before trying to change the subject with a joke, "I guess I'm finally cracking."

"It's about time." The fire mage remarked with amusement before adding a sad sigh and saying, "But I guess this means that it's good night for real this time."

"It does." Wendy said sadly, but with a warm smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" He asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it anyway.

"Of course." She answered without hesitation before offering a time to meet up, "Are you going to get breakfast at the guild?"

Romeo nodded and said, "Yep."

"Could you meet me and Carla out here before you do?" She asked curiously, "I know it's out of the way; but I want to see how Carla reacts to… this… away from the guild."

"That's a good idea, actually." Romeo remarked thoughtfully before agreeing, "Okay, I'll do that. Eight, or nine o'clock?"

"Seven." She decided, slightly surprising him.

"That's earlier than usual." He pointed out.

"Well," She explained half-jokingly, "I do have to beat people to the guild if I want to get any modeling tips from Mira in private."

"So you are going to do the interview?" The fire wizard replied curiously.

"Why not?" She said honestly before deciding to end her statement with a half-joke, "The money would be nice; but I've got a new reason to now. After all, my fans would want to know about my new boyfriend, wouldn't they?"

About five miles outside of Hargeon…

Iga was trying to keep his mind from thinking over the memories that watching the wizards had suddenly dredged up; and one name in particular ran through his head as he remembered having once felt a pain similar to the one Goten was feeling now. As he landed roughly a few yards behind the grieving demi-Saiyan in an open field, wanting to say something comforting, he wasn't sure if he should even move closer to Goten, let alone say something to him.

"This is a nightmare…" He heard Goten mutter before watching the demi-Saiyan's hair quickly flash to blue for an instant; and he could feel a surge of wild energy building inside the young man, realizing it was only a matter of time before it exploded.

Goten yelled at the sky at the top of his lungs, and the ground underneath his feet shattered and Iga staggered back a few steps as the demi-Saiyan's hair began to flicker between blue and black.

"Goten!" Iga had to shout to get the young man's attention, "You can't spike your ki like that… the Keepers!"

There was a blinding flash of blue; and before Iga could register what was happening, a fully transformed Goten rushed at him in the blink of an eye before a fist collided with his face. The immortal was shot backwards at least sixty yards before he came to a rough, rolling stop; and Iga groaned as he registered the intense pain just underneath his right eye.

"How dare you?!" Goten demanded in a rage as he suddenly appeared standing over the immortal, "You caused all this- and you know that, but you still don't care! Even now, all you care about is protecting yourself!"

Goten aimed two palms at Iga, who opened his eyes wide in shock as two blue ki spheres appeared in his face; but the immortal was quick enough to warp away, reappearing just behind Goten as he created a large crater in front of them.

"You're wrong!" The redhead argued honestly, but his shouting only told the berserk demi-Saiyan where to aim; and Goten spun quickly to the left while aiming his right foot directly at Iga's head. The wizard was barely able to get his left forearm in front of the kick; and he quickly tried talking to Goten again as soon as the shockwave from the kick had stopped ringing in their ears.

"I'm trying to protect BOTH of us!" Iga reminded him; but Goten wasn't in a listening mood. The demi-Saiyan still tried to connect his right foot with the wizard's head; but he only managed to brush the redhead's arm aside as Iga took a step back and let the kick complete its arc. And once Goten had both feet planted underneath himself again, he continued venting his rage at Iga.

"LIAR!" Goten roared at him before cocking back his right arm while creating a blue orb of ki as big as his head, which he held firmly in his right hand. The Blue Super Saiyan swung his right arm forward the next second; and he threw the ball of energy directly at Iga's head. The redhead quickly sidestepped the blast; but he wasn't able to dodge Goten's next move, not yet realizing that the demi-Saiyan was only distracting him with the energy attack. The moment he glanced to his right to see the blue orb fly inches past his head, Iga was struck on the side of his face by Goten's left fist; and once again, Iga was sent tumbling backwards until he finally stopped some thirty yards from Goten. He groaned in pain before he heard Goten appear a few feet behind him and start yelling again.

"If you really wanted to help us, you wouldn't keep hiding crap from us!" The demi-Saiyan stated angrily while he watched Iga slowly get up and face him, "All you've done this entire time is tell us just what we need to hear to keep us cooperating, because you really just want us to be doing whatever you say!"

Though he knew it was poorly timed, Iga's sense of humor forced a chuckle out of him as he rubbed away the newest stinging pain in his face; and he looked over the irate warrior before speaking as calmly as possible.

"You think I've been tricking you into fighting my battles for me?" The redhead questioned as he tried to stifle his annoyed tone; and he shook his head sadly before remarking, "What would you have done, if you knew what was happening over here?

"I know what you would have done." Iga finished his point as he saw Goten silently get angrier at his words, "You would have forced your way back here, met up with her again; and then been murdered by the Keepers, with Wendy right alongside you."

"I told you, I'm not afraid of the Keepers." Goten reminded him before charging up more energy, "So you're gonna have to come up with a better excuse than that!"

Goten was about to launch at the redhead, but he was suddenly caught off guard as Iga rushed at him; and the redhead aimed a powerful punch at the demi-Saiyan's chest.

"Dragon God's Fist!" The immortal chanted as he threw his right fist towards the center of Goten's left pectoral, and it sparked with bright red and white flames just before it struck its target. The resulting explosion shot Goten backwards a few yards, but the Blue demi-Saiyan was quick to recover; and he used his ki to halt his movement and regain his balance before Iga spoke up again.

"You fought because you wanted to come here, and I helped because I need you and your family back here," The immortal pointed out calmly, "But I've never tried to manipulate you."

"I guess you must have just done that by accident, then." Goten quipped sarcastically before taking a fighting stance; and Iga sighed before taking his own defensive stance.

"I'm sorry, Goten; I understand why you're angry…" the redhead apologized ahead of time, "But I'm not going to stand here and let you slap me around anymore."

Meanwhile, outside of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…

Barely one hundred yards east of the government building, Sting Eucliffe and Mest Gryder were still battling Orga Nanagear; and the area around them sparked with black lightning and white light frequently. The two guild wizards had developed a decent tag-team rhythm, one that their opponent had yet to figure out how to disrupt. But despite the fact that they had the upper hand, the two were beginning to tire; and they could see that Orga was nowhere near defeat yet.

"Man…" Mest panted as he recovered his breath, "I can't believe this guy can take this kind of beating and still have a smile on his face…"

Sting would have replied with an additional comment; but his pride wouldn't allow him to show any signs of weakness now, despite the fact that he could feel his magic beginning to weaken. The White Dragon Slayer simply stared down his foe angrily as he waited for Orga to make the next move. The God Slayer noted Sting's expression; and he smirked at it before moving his hands in front of his body, holding his right palm one half-foot over his left palm before black lightning began to spark between them.

"I hope you're not getting tired on me, Sting." Orga taunted as the gap between his hands filled, "Because I'm just about to get started.

"120mm Black Lightning Cannon!" The God Slayer shouted next; and he aimed his hands at Sting before firing his attack.

Mest instinctively moved to grab his partner in order to teleport away from the attack, but he was surprised when Sting quickly dodged his grasp; and he watched as the Dragon Slayer launched straight at the lightning spell with an angry yell.

"White Dragon's Sacred Fist!" Sting bellowed as he threw his right fist, which was covered in bright white light; and he punched Orga's attack. Mest quickly warped away to avoid the large black and white shockwave; and when he returned after the blasts, he heard and saw through the clearing smoke that both his partner and their enemy were still standing. He was amazed that Sting had been able to destroy Orga's attack; but Orga wasn't as impressed.

"Not bad," The God Slayer remarked to Sting honestly before grinning at him and adding, "But you know that's not my biggest shot. You wouldn't survive my Particle Cannon."

"Try me." Sting ordered him boldly; and a white magical aura erupted around the Dragon Slayer as he prepared to attack, making Orga take a few steps back and shield his eyes from its intense brightness. The God Slayer grunted in frustration before moving his hands in front of himself and creating lightning between them again; but only this time, the black magical energy expanded until it overlapped his forearms. Suddenly trying to figure out what he should do, Mest quickly looked to Sting and saw that the Dragon Slayer was preparing to charge straight at their enemy; and he had his right arm cocked back, with white light grasped firmly in his right fist.

"White Dragon Slayer's Secret Art…" Sting incanted as Orga aimed his forearms at the Dragon Slayer; and he fired his spell with a roar, "Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon!"

The White Dragon Slayer charged at the attack full-speed and finished his incantation while he launched his right fist forward, "Holy Nova!"

The attacks were inches from collision when Mest suddenly intervened; and before neither Sting nor Orga could realize what had happened, the Dragon Slayer disappeared with the teleporting wizard before reappearing just behind Orga with all of his momentum still behind him. The God Slayer's attack bore a massive tunnel through a nearby mountain; but Sting's light-wreathed fist was able to easily strike its target in the back of the head, sending Orga tumbling forward at least fifty yards as a massive white explosion sent him sailing. Totally surprised by the outcome of the exchange, Sting shoved Mest's hand off him before showing his anger.

"What the hell was that?!" He demanded in frustration, which only made Mest give him an apologetic look as he added, "I had that handled! I didn't need your help!"

"I'm sorry," the memory mage apologized, "But I saw a chance to do some real damage to him; and we can't waste our magic trying to out-muscle him. The only way we're going to beat this guy is if we're smarter than him."

"That won't be too hard." Sting remarked as he slowly forgave his partner for the surprise assist; and he watched as Orga finished standing back up, while Mest took a moment to see what his other allies were up to. He looked to his southwest; and his jaw dropped at the sight of a massive, jet-black stone version of Cel Rhea, making for an intimidating sight from even hundreds of yards away.

"How did we not notice that earlier?!" Mest wondered aloud as he saw the Titan throw some rather large boulders at something in front of her feet, "That thing's at least a thousand feet tall!"

Meanwhile, Gray Fullbuster was busy dodging a massive boulder, jumping as hard as he could to his left; and he felt and heard the intense tremoring as the giant jet-black rock collided into the earth just behind his feet. He was glad to have survive Cel's projectile, but he knew that she had another boulder in her other hand; and he quickly looked at the Titan to see she had hurled the other rock at his partner, who was about forty-five yards ahead of him. The large chunk of earth was barely two feet from crushing Yukino, who called for her one of her spirits in reflex, and Libra suddenly jumped in front of her before changing the gravity around the boulder. To Cel's annoyance, the celestial spirit redirected the boulder right back at her; and the massive rock slammed into her face before shattering on impact.

"Agh!" The Earth God Slayer yelled in surprise, taking a step back and grabbing her face with her left hand as she did. She quickly recovered, though; and she immediately decided to make her enemy pay for their counterattack.

"You little bitch! You're all going to die for that!" She boomed at Yukino before she swung her right arm quickly in front of herself from left to right as she yelled, "Earth God's Landslide!"

An enormous barrage of black mud and rocks appeared from Cel's arm before it crashed into the ground in front of her; and it quickly avalanched over anything in its way as it barreled for both Gray and Yukino. Realizing that the attack was too big to dodge without jumping over it, Gray quickly figured out that Cel wanted Yukino to use Libra to avoid the landslide; so he hurriedly cast a large defensive spell before Yukino could react.

"Ice Make: Wall!"

A giant blue wall of ice, which was about fifty-yards long, appeared between the two guild wizards and the tumultuous mass of earth; and there was an extremely large crash as the two spells collided. Cel watched in irritation as most of her landslide rolled past the sides of Gray's slightly-curved wall, which was nearly destroyed by the attack; but it was just strong enough to remain standing. Angry with the result, Rhea quickly created another boulder in her right hand before throwing it directly at the center of the ice wall. And though the attack was enough to finally shatter the ice, Gray's spell gave him enough time to run closer to his partner; and he quickly shouted to her, trying hard to be heard over the loud booming of the two spell's collision.

"We need to get her out of this form!" He told Yukino when he was about thirty yards from her and her spirit, "Cause If we keep fighting like this, she's eventually going to get us!"

Gray made eye-contact with the celestial mage, who barely heard him over the noise, but had read his lips. She quickly started to think, and she finally came up with a few ideas just as he was within a few yards of her.

"I know what to do!" She declared confidently before glancing up at Cel to see she was looking directly at them, smirking; and the Sabertooth wizard realized she had to be quick if she planned on coordinating an attack.

She quickly made eye-contact with Gray again before saying, "Aim for her legs, she doesn't protect them!"

But as she said it, she shook her head as if to contradict her own words. Gray was confused for a moment, until Cel accidentally helped him remember a small detail about the God Slayer's magic.

"I will protect them now!" The Titan taunted with a laugh, "You little idiot, why can't you remember that I can hear you from wherever you are! You need to be telepathic to talk secretly in front of me!"

"That's a good idea!" Yukino suddenly thanked Cel, to her great surprise; and the celestial mage quickly communicated an order to Libra through her key.

The still-summoned spirit looked at her master, slightly surprised by Yukino's cunning; but then she quickly did as she was told, throwing a confused and angrily-shouting Gray way past the Titan.

"I'm sorry, Gray!" Yukino apologized as she heard Gray's confused shouts of protest; and she watched as Gray crashed into the floating tier of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch.

"What was that?" Cel asked the celestial mage while she fought off the urge to break down in a fit of laughter, "You took out your own ally? Why?"

"I thought that a dark wizard would understand, of all people." Yukino remarked with a shake of her head before explaining her actions, "My guild might be on good terms with Fairy Tail, and Gray might be a good partner; but this is my guild's fight. "

Cel shook her head in amusement; but she was too distracted to notice that Gray had not been 'taken out' at all. Initially confused and angry about being launched back into the building by his own teammate, Gray noted that he had only been thrown through a window; and he only received a couple scrapes from his landing. But when he looked back out the window he broke through, Gray realized why Yukino had Libra throw him here: he had a perfect angle to hit Cel in the back of her giant head.

"Don't you realize you need all the help you can get?" Cel cockily remarked, "What makes you think you're anywhere near as strong as I am?"

"I might not be a strong as you," Yukino quipped before pulling out a second golden key, "But my spirits are! Pisces!"

She raised her second golden key over her head; and the two giant fish emerged from a large magical seal above her, spiraling skyward for a moment before they both charged straight down at Cel. The Titan was able to get her massive left hand in front of the light-colored fish; but the darker fish managed to slip past Cel's right hand, slamming into her right chest and shoving her backwards as she fought to keep her balance despite the force of the impact. The next instant, the fish that collided into Cel's left palm flailed its tail upward before slamming it onto the top of her head, making Cel also use her right hand to deal with just the one fish; and the other moved for Cel's feet while she was distracted.

Gray was watching the fish as they took their positions; and he grinned eagerly before placing his hands together, preparing to cast the biggest ranged spell he could manage. Taking a few steps back after realizing he was going to need room to make a big gun, he looked out the window and saw as Cel finally managed to throw the light fish off of her before she glanced down to find that the dark fish had snaked around her legs without actually touching them. But she had no time to react, because Gray took his chance as soon as Cel started to look down; and he fired the biggest attack he could muster without hesitation.

"Ice Make: Big Bertha!"

A large, four-hundred and twenty millimeter artillery gun made of bright blue ice appeared in front of the ice wizard; and it fired a shot the next instant. The ice obstructed Gray's view, but he heard the explosion as his attack hit its target; and he smirked when he heard Cel's yelp in surprise before he removed the ice gun from his view. And as soon as he could see what was going on; he witnessed Cel start to fall forward as the dark fish's tail tried to trip her. The Titan stumbled when her feet got caught up by the dark fish; and she started leaning forward, which was enough for Yukino to finish the attack.

"Libra, Pisces, take her down!" The Sabertooth mage ordered hurriedly; and the lighter fish quickly charged back to Cel's forehead before flipping over her and slamming its tail between her shoulder blades. Cel was on the brink of falling until Libra finally brought her down, altering the gravity around the Titan's head to try forcing it as hard as possible into the ground. The four point attack finally worked, and Cel sudden found herself falling face first into the dirt; and she hit the ground painfully as the impact of her fall shook the ground for miles and miles around.

Outside of Hargeon…

Iga rubbed the sore right side of his head as he looked over the panting Blue Super Saiyan that was standing a few yards ahead of him; and though he could see that Goten was getting just as physically tired as he was, he could also tell by the angry glare the demi-Saiyan was giving him that this whole situation needed to end, and soon.

"Goten, you have to try to hear me out." Iga pleaded once again as he moved back into a defensive stance, "I don't want to have to hurt you; but I will if that means saving you in the end."

"You couldn't hurt me even if you tried." Goten quipped, still clearly too enraged to be reasoned with; and Iga sighed before the demi-Saiyan suddenly shot his palm forward, aiming it at the redhead's stomach. An intense and focused gust struck Iga in separate sections of his gut, despite his successful attempt to block it with his arms; and his expression suddenly showed some surprise and curiosity as he staggered backwards.

"What was that?" Iga questioned as he finished recovering his breath, "You hit me with the air, didn't you? That's why I couldn't see it, or totally block it."

"Do you ever shut up?" Goten remarked with ire, and Iga only smirked before replying.

"I'm afraid not." The immortal answered honestly, "Seriously, I talked in my sleep so much; it was a problem for a while.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a problem for me, I mean. I couldn't hear any of it." The redhead continued talking as he began to think he had figured out the solution for his current predicament; and Goten quietly focused his ki, planning to shut Iga up in a few seconds.

"The problem was that I kept waking Ves up." The immortal recalled with a hint of melancholy in his voice; and Goten glanced at Iga to see he had a sad smile on his face as he spoke.

"And it was dangerous to do that, you know?" Iga added with a faint chuckle; and Goten lowered his guard as something in the redhead's expression made him curious, deciding to give Iga more time to talk on a random impulse.

"I'm sorry, of course you don't know." Iga apologized before remembering his age, "You weren't there."

To Iga's slight surprise, Goten's curiosity had taken hold of him; and the demi-Saiyan suddenly found himself asking questions about this 'Ves'.

"Is this the same girl Edo mentioned earlier?" Goten recalled with a neutral tone, and Iga nodded before Goten asked him, "Who is she?"

"She's my wife." The immortal informed the surprised demi-Saiyan before he pointed at the large scar that ran under the right side of his jaw and diagonally downward, towards the mid-left side of his neck.

"About seven hundred years ago, in one of the many times we fought; Edo managed slice open my neck." Iga told Goten while he lifted up his chin to give the demi-Saiyan a better view for a few seconds before lowering his head sadly.

"But that was the least painful part of that whole fight. You see, Edo knew that as painful as any physical injury could be, he knew I would heal from it." The redhead remarked sourly, "So he decided that going for my emotions would work better; and he killed her when she tried to help me… Said he did so because he wanted something to hold over me."

Goten gave the immortal a reappraising look as he listened, starting to realize that he actually knew very little about Iga.

"Yeah," The redhead sighed, though he gratefully noticed Goten's calmer demeanor while he spoke, "Things were never the same after that."

Goten was still angry with the immortal; but something about Iga's honest emotion was compelling him to listen, having slowly realized that Iga was finally revealing more secrets to him.

"I really do have an idea of how you're feeling, I do." Iga tried to console Goten once again, "And you are right, I should've been more honest; but I swear: I had no clue about Wendy and Romeo. I would never keep a secret like that, especially from a friend."

The two warriors tried to read each other at the same time, with Iga wondering for a long moment about what Goten was thinking; but he didn't have to wait too long to find out.

"I'm sorry," the demi-Saiyan apologized as his blue hair faded back to black, shaking his head at himself as it did, "I wasn't thinking straight."

"Love will do that to you." Iga accepted the apology with a sad and relieved smile; but Goten was upset with himself now.

"I shouldn't have listened to Edo." the demi-Saiyan reflected, "But I had to know what was happening; and I played his game…"

"None of this is your fault, Goten." Iga replied reassuringly, "If I had given you more reasons to trust me, then maybe I'd blame you."

Suddenly feeling tired from their skirmish, Iga slowly sat down before offering an equally exhausted Goten a seat to his right; and the demi-Saiyan accepted the invitation. The two sat quietly for a moment before Goten spoke up.

"So, um, what was she like?" He asked Iga curiously.

"Vesta?" Igneel replied thoughtfully, and he saw Goten nod before continuing, "Well, she was a lot like me, really. We had the same sense of humor, the same inability to shut up, and the same ridiculously large appetite. Seriously, I never figured out where all that food went; but she could have put some of you Saiyans to shame."

Goten chuckled before Iga continued.

"And she was beautiful." The immortal said as he perfectly recalled everything he knew about Vesta, "She had red hair that was brighter than mine, somehow; and she had green eyes and pale white skin that made her hair look even brighter. She always wore a grin or a friendly smile; but she knew how to wear some intimidating expressions when she had to, as well. She was only about two inches shorter than me; but she was more than able to stare me down -because there really was a fire in her, and no one could put it out. At least, I thought so."

Goten glanced at the immortal as he added his sad remark, and he could see the mix of emotions on Iga's face, even though the redhead was looking off into the distance.

"When I first met her, I thought she was just a humble and witty waitress in some small town's inn; but then I learned she was also a pretty decent fire wizard. She didn't use her magic in front of people often; but she did have some skill. I was lucky enough to see that on that same day, when I accidentally caused a bar fight with some dark wizards on my way out. She helped me take them down; and that was when I saw the potential that she had."

Iga momentarily stopped talking as he glanced at a sympathetic Goten, showing the demi-Saiyan his sad smile before thinking he saw something weird. About twelve yards from Goten's left, Iga could have sworn he saw some grass move against the faint breeze; but he decided to pretend he didn't notice the anomaly, continuing to talk as if nothing was wrong.

"After I watched her take down three pretty mean guys by herself, I decided to ask her out. I admit, I was physically attracted to her right off the bat; but our first 'date' was more like an evaluation, to see if I could totally trust her with everything that I knew. And then she passed, so I revealed my true powers to her on our second date, about a week later. You should have seen her face when I ate her flames, she was so amazed by that…

"I like to think that was our first official date; we had our first kiss that night, after all." Iga continued as he glanced at the small patch of grass, noticing that it was being depressed by some mysterious force,

"But that was just a parting kiss, as sweet as it was. I was definitely into her, and she proved that she had what it took to become my apprentice; but it wasn't until a couple months later, on my third visit, that I realized I was in love. I had gone back to her bar to pay her a surprise visit, but she somehow knew I was coming. When I got there, she was standing out front next to two travel bags, holding a big bottle of liquor and dinner to-go while wearing a dumb grin on her face; and then she greeted me by saying, 'Took you long enough'."

Goten laughed, failing to notice Iga's glare seemed to be focusing on something as he enjoyed listening to the immortal's story.

"We never had a wedding ceremony or anything like that, and neither of us ever proposed either," The redhead informed the demi-Saiyan, "But I guess you could say we got engaged that night. We split the bottle and the meal, got too drunk, and then I accidentally broke a hole in her village's town hall after I got carried away with trying to show off. I took her back to the Sanctuary to escape an angry mob; and she never left my side after that."

Iga glanced at the suspicious spot to see that the grass was still being flattened; but he still decided to not address the oddity aloud, thinking that if his hunch was correct, continuing his story might be the only thing keeping him and Goten alive at the moment.

"Trunks was the first person I ever recruited after her death, you know; and that was a hugely out of necessity." Iga remarked as he looked back to Goten, "And I haven't touched another woman since her, though I used to be quite the playboy."

"You still are, from what I heard at the party." Goten finally chimed in with a faint grin on his face, "Lisanna told everyone about when you practiced pick-ups lines with her so you could trick some dark wizard into giving up info on her guild. Some of them were really good; but-"

"Some were real cheesy, right?" Iga interrupted with a weak laugh, and Goten nodded before he explained, "Vesta came up with most of the good ones, actually; and the rest was all me. She was way more charismatic than I am, by a long shot."

Iga glanced past Goten again; and he saw that instead of the mostly-solid round patch from a few seconds ago, there was now two much smaller small spots of grass, about three feet apart from each other, where the grass was visibly being compressed. Finally deciding his hunch was correct, Iga wrapped up the conversation; and he acted cool as he tried to plan a way to get Goten to safety.

"I felt like a god back then, with a goddess at my side." He concluded with a sad tone, "But I got careless; and she paid for it.

"But that's not happening again. Not this time." Iga declared confidently, and he stood up towards the end of his statement as he talked, "Once we get these Keepers out the way, we're going to rain hell on him and his God Slayers; and we'll make him pay for every single person that he's ever harmed in his aim to torment me. Because that's really what his 'game' is; and it's gone on for way too long."

"Edo's not going to stand a chance against us." Goten agreed with a similar amount of confidence as he stood up with his friend, "I promise you, he's going to be regretting everything he's done before it's all over. That's for certain."

"I believe it." Iga remarked humorously, "I wouldn't be going on this little suicide mission with your family if I didn't."

Goten smirked before changing the subject, "I guess we should go back to Earth; so I can get back to training… and try to get Wendy off my mind."

Iga gave the teen a sympathetic expression before saying seriously, "I know you'll be okay in the end, kid, you're strong like that."

Iga opened a portal on the ground between himself and the demi-Saiyan before instructing Goten, "Go ahead and jump through without me, there's something over here that I've got to take care of before I can go back."

"You don't want any help, do you?" Goten questioned, but Iga shook his head.

"It's nothing serious, I just want to catch up on current events over here before I leave." The immortal lied before ending the conversation, "Just go on ahead and tell everyone I'll be back in a couple of hours. Besides, they might need you if Edo is still there."

"Okay." Goten replied; and he said goodbye before jumping through the portal, which Iga promptly closed behind him.

"I'm surprised, Claris, you let me finish my little story." Iga greeted the invisible threat as he looked back to it, "And here I thought you Keepers were a bunch of heartless monsters…"

"Most of us are." He suddenly heard a woman's voice say from the exact spot he was looking. He still saw no one in front of him, but the voice was scarily familiar; and his memory had already painted an image of who he was speaking with.

"So it is you." Iga smirked as he confirmed his assumption, "You know, you don't have to be so shy. Come on, show your face, I'm sure it's not as ugly as you think."

"Heh." Claris chuckled in amusement, but she remained invisible as she replied, "Trust me, you'd be eating those words if I showed my face."

"Perhaps I should just say please." Iga quipped humorously, "But then again, minding manners is probably not your strong suit, considering your penchant for eavesdropping."

"Oh, please." The unseen Keeper retorted with equal amusement in her tone, "You've been spying on people way longer than I have."

"Yeah… that's right, I do remember hearing the big fur ball say that you were the new girl." Iga replied with a smirk still on his face, "Maybe I should be worried, then, because I know I'm going to feel bad if hurt a rookie."

Claris chuckled at her target, with the familiarity of her voice starting to bother Iga; and he could hear her take a few steps closer to him before she spoke again.

"Just in case you were wondering, I let your Saiyan friend leave because he's not my problem." The Keeper explained seriously, "The only person in my sights is you, Igneel. And I'll be damned if I let you get away from me again."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter V: Revival

Outside of the Magic Council Fiore Branch…

"We did it!" Yukino cheered as her massive opponent had toppled forward, and she was beaming with pride as the resulting dust cloud settled until she heard Gray call out to her.

"Be careful!" He shouted as he leaned out the broken window while trying to find a safe way off the floating tier of the government building, "She's not done yet!"

The Fairy Tail wizard was glad to see his partner quickly turn to face the fallen Titan, and he started to create a slide on the outside of the busted window while Yukino continued to watch for any signs of danger. Pisces circled above her, waiting for the Titan to get up; and Libra was standing just to her left, waiting to ward off any surprise attacks that could occur. While he was sliding back down to earth, Gray only watched the celestial team for a moment before his eyes also locked onto the Titan; and they remained there as his feet finally touched solid ground. Yukino glanced at Gray as he started to jog over to her and Libra, until a rumbling noise emanated from the center of the Titan's wreckage; and she quickly turned back to see what was happening.

If Gray hadn't warned her, Yukino would have been surprised to see Cel Rhea's fist erupt from the middle of the Titan's back; and she watched as the God Slayer quickly climbed out.

"Well, that was annoying…" Cel remarked as she finished unburying herself, and she moved to stand on the back of the Titan's head as she looked at Yukino.

"Do you remember when I said that I wanted to kill you?" The God Slayer questioned with hate in her voice, "I'm going to do worse than that."

"You will not touch her." Libra immediately challenged the Slayer, who gave the spirit an annoyed look before raising her right palm at Libra's chest. A large black beam of ki blasted the spirit away the next instant, sending her a few yards back and exploding before anyone else could react; and Yukino shouted out of concern for her spirit.

"Libra!" She yelped worriedly; and then she felt Libra's gate close as she waited for the smoke to clear, which told her she needn't bother waiting for the dust to settle. She didn't have much time to feel sorry for her defeated spirit, though, because Cel hopped down from the head of her Titan and spoke up once again.

"That takes care of the first pest," the earth mage taunted as she looked over her opponents, "But I wonder, which one do we get rid of next?"

"Well," Gray replied coolly, "You'd save us a lot of time if you got rid of yourself."

Before Cel could respond to the Fairy Tail wizard's joke, the two giant fish above the three suddenly changed into their human forms; and the mother/son duo landed between the god Slayer and her foes, staring her down as soon as their feet touched the ground. Their entrance was impressive, but Cel only acknowledged it for an instant as something else made her look away and swear in frustration.

"You two are the luckiest wizards on Earthland, at the moment." Cel remarked as she looked back to her four opponents.

Gray and Yukino looked at Cel in confusion as they felt her magic power lowering, but they were still wondering if this act was some new mind game.

"I have just received word from my Master," Cel revealed as she tapped an index finger to the side of her head, "And, apparently, he's decided that you both get to live through today."

Still surprised by the sudden turn of events, Yukino and Gray were slow to react. Paying her enemies no mind, Cel turned around and walked towards the enormous pile of black rocks while the light guild wizards tried to figure out what was happening.

"That's it?!" Gray demanded with some anger as he saw Cel open a portal on the Titan's crumbled head, "You're just running away?!"

"Not exactly." The earth mage answered cryptically; and she walked into her portal without another word, just as Yukino tried to get Pisces to catch her. Neither of the celestial duo were quick enough; however, and the God Slayer's portal closed just as the mother and son spirits reached it.

"What's going on here?" Yukino wondered aloud, "Why did Edo tell her to just leave us here like this?"

"He's playing games with us," Gray replied with annoyance, "Like he always does."

The two suddenly heard a loud explosion; and they both looked to the source of it to see that Sting and Mest were still fighting Orga, who just blasted another large hole in the floating section of the Magic Council's building.

"Why is Orga still here?" Yukino questioned no one in particular, "I thought Edo was calling his God Slayers back…"

"What the hell is going on here?" Gray agreed with her wonder, trying to think of what Edo could be up to as he saw Mest and Sting reappear in the air above them, with Sting launching another roar down towards his opponent.

"They're really going at it up there." Gray remarked as the top of a white explosion could be seen over an obstructing, rocky ridgeline; and Yukino nodded quietly.

"I barely ever see Sting fight like this." She informed him as Sting and Mest disappeared from their sight once again, and she looked back to Gray before adding, "He must be using a lot of his magic power right now…"

"He might plan on using all of it." Gray suggested honestly, still looking at where he last saw the Dragon Slayer and the teleporter while he did, "It doesn't look like he's holding anything back, and he's been fighting for a while now."

"Do you think he and Mest have enough magic left to beat Orga?" The celestial mage asked, sounding slightly worried. Gray noticed her tone, and he looked back to her before giving her an honest shrug.

"I don't know, maybe." The ice wizard answered thoughtfully, "I may be wrong, but I think Sting's magic might give him an edge against Edo's."

"Really?" Yukino replied hopefully, and Gray tried to explain his thoughts to her.

"Don't get too excited; it's like I said, I might be wrong." He reminded her before making his point, "But Sting might somehow be disrupting the power that Edo is sharing with his goons."

"Because he uses a type of light magic?" Yukino guessed, and Gray shrugged again as they heard another explosion go off in the background.

"It probably has something to do with that." He agreed before adding, "But I'd need to get up close if I would wanna find out for sure. We might even need to capture Orga to test it."

"We need to rescue Orga, not capture him." The Sabertooth wizard reminded Gray, who quickly gave her an apologetic look in response before he realized something.

"Wait a minute…" The ice mage said with a hint of worry in his voice, "What did that crazy woman do with the hostages?"

Inside the ground floor of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…

Juvia Lockser walked through the empty halls alone, and she had been looking for anyone since she had seen all of her allies get thrown outside the structure in the midst of their battles. She had hoped she'd be able to locate the council employees and aid them in escaping; but all she had found were random items which she assumed belonged to the people she was tracking.

Assuming the people must have dropped everything while running from something, Juvia found herself walking down another empty hall, a couple flights of stairs, into another abandoned hall, and through the entrance to the main chamber of the structure.

The water mage was expecting to see the room to be destroyed by the two wizards who fought inside it, but she did not expect to find Cel Rhea standing in the center of it; and the earth wizard seemed to be making something large out of jet-black stone. Before Juvia could question her, the God Slayer spoke up.

"It's good to see you, Juvia." Rhea greeted her while continuing her current task, "I missed having you around."

"What are you doing?" the water mage demanded, ignoring the obvious taunt, "And what did you do with all those people?!"

Rhea initially ignored Juvia until she finished building a ten-foot monolith in front of herself.

"Well," Cel began honestly with a gesture towards her creation, " _This_ should get rid of any evidence we were here."

"Should clear the area for a couple miles, actually…" She added with an amused grin before turning to a suddenly nervous Juvia and continuing her answer.

"And as for the Council's paid pets, I sent them back home. My lover wants them for some experiments he's got planned."

Cel mentioned Edo's relationship with her to distract the water mage from the important issue of the hostages, and she smirked to hear her ploy was working.

"Lover?" Juvia remarked tentatively, despite knowing that Cel was trying to distract her, "So he's letting you call him that now?"

Juvia's only interest in learning about the couple was the hope of finding a weakness, maybe even a way to manipulate Cel; and the bluenette feigned a nervous expression throughout the conversation as she listened to the God Slayer.

"It's nice to see that you remember some things from your time with us," Cel teased, "Maybe you'll come to remember all the fun we had, eventually."

Juvia decided to ignore Cel this time, and the God Slayer changed the subject thinking she was winning the discussion.

"Anyways, Master Edo finally realized my true potential; and now we're officially partners, playing his game side by side and getting stronger as we do. Take this pillar for instance."

The two mages examined the monolith, which began to heat up the air around it. The black stone's color started to change to a dark orange, and the change seemed to start from inside the rock.

"My love pointed out to me how I used my magic in such limited ways," Cel explained as Juvia started to slowly back away from the heat the monolith began to radiate, "He opened my mind to so many possibilities… I never considered controlling the heat energy stored inside the earth. I knew I could control anything from the earth: minerals, rock, metals, maybe even magma or lava; but I never thought I'd have _this_ much control."

Finally deciding she needed to do something, and after seeing Cel take the bait so well already, Juvia fished for one last bit of information on the monolith.

"So," She questioned pointedly, "You're simply heating this giant rock until it's gathered up enough heat and energy to cause a massive explosion?"

As soon as she heard the question, Cel's smirk faded as she realized Juvia's logic.

"Don't try to stop it, Juvia; you won't be able to." the God Slayer warned the bluenette, "And even if you delay it, you'll never get away from the blast in time. This could evaporate you."

Juvia was initially ignoring Cel, gathering her magic energy as the slayer made her threats, until the Titan's demeanor shifted as she added.

"Seriously, Juvia." Cel seemed to be pleading to her, "Master Edo wouldn't allow me to simply use the building for this because that size explosion could've threatened the planet; and I don't know exactly how big this blast is going to be. Take your friends and leave; you don't have to die today, and neither do they."

"I'm leaving now." Rhea declared as she created a portal on the floor next to her before looking to Juvia as she started walking in, "And you should be too."

Juvia watched as Cel departed the room, and she turned toward the glowing monolith as the dark portal sealed itself. She knew she had a decision to make, and she was regretful knowing that she was probably choosing the dumb option. And after she gathered all the magical power she could muster, she began to flood the room.

Outside…

Sting and Mest stood a couple yards apart as they stared down Orga, who stood forty-five yards from them after having climbed out of another small crater. All three were beginning to show signs of fatigue, though for separate reasons. Orga's body was covered in bruises, cuts, and an occasional burn mark; but the only indication he was tiring was the fact that he was barely sweating, which was a fact that bothered the exhausted White Dragon Slayer.

"Dammit…" Sting panted angrily as he examined the God Slayer's condition, "I've hit him with everything."

Mest glanced nervously towards Sting as the dragon slayer added, "I'm not sure how long I can keep this up."

"I'm getting a little worn out myself." The teleport mage admitted before wiping sweat off his forehead. Sting was about to respond until Orga spoke up.

"I knew you'd get tired on me!" He taunted proudly, "Face it, Sting, your power is nothing compared to my new master's!"

"I thought I told you to shut up already!" Sting argued back, and Mest looked to the dragon slayer once again.

"This is getting bad, Sting." He pointed out, "If we can't wear him down, we need to find a way out of here. And if we keep up like this, I'm not going to have enough magic to get us away from here."

"We're not running from him!" Sting declared in frustration, "I can't! I have to save him!"

"And I thought I told you that I don't need any 'saving'!" Orga interjected in annoyance, "My power is more than magic and muscle now; my master has shown me the power of darkness. I have learned about the energy inside me; and now, I'm the pinnacle of strength in all ways!"

As Orga began his speech, Mest was beginning to grow very nervous about his current situation. He scanned his surroundings desperately, and as Orga declared his formidable strength; the Fairy Tail spy saw a faint glint of light that was flashing in a bizarre pattern. He glanced back towards Sting, hoping his partner had noticed the light as well.

"I'm going to show you just how wrong you've been, Sting!" Orga taunted as his lecture continued, "I'm going to beat down your annoying little friend here…"

Sting stopped listening however, instead focusing his senses on the strange glow; and to his delight, he could see Gray Fullbuster standing next to Yukino. The ice mage was holding up a small disc of ice and turning it back and forth until he made eye contact with Sting; and the pair nodded understandingly towards each other as Orga regained Sting's attention.

"…And after I crush you, I'm going to give my old guild a visit." The Lightning God Slayer threatened, "I'll show them all how weak they've become under your leadership; and then I'll erase them from this world!"

Mest noticed Sting's nod towards the glimmering light and quickly connected the dots as Orga shouted at them; and he prepared himself to act as soon as he saw an opportunity to strike, deciding to follow Sting's lead as he waited. The dragon slayer had heard enough threats, and he intended on showing Orga the error of his ways.

"I SAID, SHUT UP!" Sting finally replied; and as he did, a brilliant magical aura enveloped him before beginning to slowly expand.

Mest eventually needed to start moving away from Sting, as a great pressure in the air and a blinding white light forced him to turn and face the enemy from a safer distance. Their enemy merely chuckled amusedly before taunting Sting once again.

"This is it?!" He laughed, "This is all you've got?!"

"Here!" Orga added mockingly as he moved to fire another particle cannon attack, "Let's see whose power is greater ONCE and FOR ALL!"

"Now, Mest!" Sting yelled before bracing to take Orga's attack head on, planning to hold it back with pure magical energy. And as the god slayer fired his massive attack, the teleporting wizard warped towards his allies in the distance.

Sting's power was able to hold Orga's attack back for a second; but ultimately the white mage could only slow the threat's approach, noticing the lightning slayer was now adding more than magical power to the attack.

And just as Sting was about to become overwhelmed by the force of the blast, Mest appeared right above the god slayer with Gray appearing in between them. Before Orga could react, Gray landed with a grip on both of Orga's arms; and the Lightning God Slayer roared in confused protest before being frozen solid in a seven-foot block of ice.

The two wizards landed smoothly on their feet as the ice block landed face-down next to them while Sting's aura began to dim and dissipate. Before anyone could start celebrating, Gray quickly moved to their temporarily subdued enemy and gave out instructions.

"We need to get him to Fairy Tail, and fast." The ice mage ordered Mest quickly, "We might be able to help him there, but I don't know how long I can hold him in there."

Sting was doing his best to remain standing as he recovered from the fight; but Mest was about to agree, beginning to move toward the two people in front of him before he heard Yukino shouting as she ran towards them.

"Sting! Gray!" They heard her shout, "The building!"

Looking towards what remained of the Council's property, all three men saw that a massive amount of some light grey vapor was rising from the building.

"Is that steam?" Mest wondered aloud, causing Sting to finally speak up.

"I think so." He replied between deep breaths.

"But what's creating it?" Mest questioned Sting, "There's not enough water near here to make…"

Mest trailed off as he figured out the cause, but it was Gray who pointed it out first.

"Juvia!" He yelled with some concern before ordering Mest once more, "Take me there!"

Mest quickly complied; and the two found themselves just outside the main chamber of the Council structure, where a wall of water was preventing them from entering the room. The water was just transparent enough for the two to see Juvia was standing in an air pocket in the center, just a few feet in front of a large monolith that was glowing bright orange. The water was constantly flowing towards the stone, but Gray and Mest could see that it did not appear to be cooling in the slightest.

"Juvia, hang on!" Gray shouted, about to dash into the water before the water mage's voice came through the water.

"No, darling!" Juvia warned him, "Don't come in here! The water's current will trap you in here with me!"

"You have to leave!" She added, "I don't know how much longer I can contain this heat!"

"Then let me help you!" Gray argued, but he could see Juvia shake her head before hearing her response.

"You will be helping if you leave!" She pointed out, "I can't hold this back and protect you; and I know I can survive the blast!"

"Who's causing this?" Gray tried a different approach, "Cel? This is one of her little games, isn't it?!"

Quickly turning to Mest, he gave the teleporting wizard one more command.

"Take our Sabertooth friends to Fairy Tail," He declared as he readied himself to dive through the water, "We'll meet up with you back there when we can."

The two made eye contact one last time before Mest nodded and vanished after wishing his friend good luck.

Somewhere outside of Hargeon, at the edge of a nearby forest…

Iga bounced off the ground once as he tumbled into a tree, which halted his momentum before snapping in half and landing on top of him; and the immortal groaned as the leaves and dirt settled before slowly shoving the top half of the tree off himself.

"Well that's not how you greet someone…" He muttered as he stood and rubbed his forehead where Claris had punched him; and as he finished regaining his bearings, he heard and saw the grass a few feet ahead being compressed in two small spots.

"I hope you know, if you're worried about 'letting me get away'," The redhead pointed out with a forced smirk, "You probably shouldn't start punching me into the distance."

"Clever as always." The invisible Keeper remarked humorously before informing her quarry, "But ever since I took this light magic from the first Claris, I've been able to see everything everywhere. I can even see inside your Sanctuary…"

"And how does that work if you get older?" Iga deflected the vague threat, with his smirk only fading for an instant, "Would you only see somethings somewhere?"

The next instant Iga felt the toe of a boot slam into the left side of his ribcage before he crashed through two more trees; and the third tree, which stopped him, now had a cartoon-like imprint of the top half of his body inside it. Iga planted his feet and pried himself from the tree, which fell apart a second after he was free; and once again he could tell Claris had landed somewhere near him.

Iga shook his head at himself, slightly regretting that he used a good bit of his strength dealing with Goten. He knew that the only way he was getting out of this predicament would be by playing it smart. Claris however, upon seeing the Iga shake his head, assumed he was laughing at her.

"I know you've got a very broad sense of humor…" She questioned him curiously. "But I don't think you've got much to laugh about, given your current situation."

"Yeah?" He replied with a smile, "Too bad I don't really care what you think."

He was expecting to be hit again for his rebuttal, but Claris merely said two words:

"You should."

And before Iga could declare his surprise at not being hit, he felt all the air leave his lungs as Claris drove her knee into his abdomen at a very high speed. Iga had expected to be sent flying again, but the Keeper had created a wall of ki behind him when she struck; and the resulting pain in his gut instantly brought him to his knees as he gasped for air.

"I have to admit," Claris commented as she watched her enemy recover his breath, "I did not expect that kid to weaken you as much as he did."

"You keep… under…estimating… the Saiyans." He panted a response before standing back up and taking a deep breath.

"No, I didn't." The Keeper clarified, "I had overestimated _your_ strength."

"I'm flattered." Iga said flatly; and he grimaced when he felt Claris grab the right side of his face and shove it against the ki barrier behind him.

"You should be." She told him as she squeezed his face against her energy; but before she could say anything else, Iga finally made an attack of his own.

Guessing the Keeper's location by the positioning of her hand on his face, Iga planted his arms against the ki wall before twisting his body and kicking at her; and he grinned when he felt his leg make contact, causing Claris to stumble backwards. Upon hearing her feet shuffle, Iga quickly shoved his hand forward and created a massive blast of magical fire and energy that illuminated the forest with bright red and white lights.

At first he was happy about landing his counter attack, admiring the cloud of dirt and smoke before him; but that happiness faded as Iga saw something he didn't expect. A few trees had caught fire from his attack, but the flames seemed to lose their color while small amounts of white light seemed to be flowing from them and gathering in the air. Iga gulped nervously as the light formed into a sphere that was slightly bigger than him; and he did his best to shield himself before it flew straight at him, causing a fifty-yard wide explosion when it collided with his energy.

Claris waited for the debris to settle before gently landing in the center of the crater she had created; and she was pleasantly surprised to see Iga was still standing, though he was clearly exhausted. The redhead was panting and sweating, and there were burn marks and cuts across his scarred body. She was going to reattempt to explain his situation to him once more, but Iga managed to speak first.

"Not bad." He complimented her as he intentionally lowered his guard before asking, "Was that's the Light Keeper's magic?"

"It sure is." Claris affirmed proudly, "I can take light from any source and make it do whatever I want; and that's just the start."

"But you can't control the source itself, can you?" Iga wondered as he recalled seeing the burning trees that used to be near him; and how the flames changed color but never died.

"Unless it's made of light, no." She answered honestly before adding, "Don't be trying to look for a weakness, now. I guarantee that by the time you find one, I'll have already beaten you."

Iga chuckled before taunting her, "That's _real_ tough talk for someone that's been hiding throughout the entire fight."

"I think it's time I explain a few things to you." The Keeper said with a hint of annoyance, "And first of all, I'm hiding my face because I don't think you'll fight me once I reveal myself. I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of boredom; and I was expecting a satisfying fight against you."

Iga was slightly confused by what she said, so he responded by saying with a hint of amusement, "Trust me, if you dropped the camouflage; I'll have no problem with kicking your teeth in."

"Think so?" Claris questioned mockingly, to which Iga responded with a nod.

"Oh, yeah." He threatened, "It'd only be fair to return the favor. C'mon, show yourself; and let's see this ugly mug of yours before I make it uglier."

Claris chuckled once again, "Okay… Ask and you shall receive…"

Iga was about to make another joke about Claris until she suddenly became visible, and his jaw dropped instantly in shock and disbelief.

"Not so ugly now, am I?" The Keeper said smugly; but Iga, for only the second time in his life, was rendered speechless.

"And now that I've fully got your attention," She continued as she enjoyed the look on Iga's face; and she grabbed Iga by the throat and lifting him up before finishing her sentence, "This is where I remind you that I'm here for a fight."

Iga was only able to utter one word before she tossed him deeper into the forest:

"…Ves?"

In the main chamber of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch,,,

Gray Fullbuster ran full speed and splashed through the large wall of water between himself and the air pocket his partner was standing in; and she was not too happy to see him enter the room.

"No, my love!" She pleaded again in frustration, "You cannot be here! The blast from this will-"

"Would you shut up already?!" Gray nearly shouted in anger; and Juvia instantly complied, totally surprised by his response.

"I don't care if those creeps got into your head," He informed her aggressively, "But that doesn't mean they're all-powerful!"

Moving to stand beside Juvia, Gray faced the glowing monolith and began gathering his magic power while still talking.

"Everyone of those losers is just borrowing someone else's power to get stronger, they play head games with us instead of taking us on directly, and they hide behind hostages; because they're cowards!"

"Juvia!" He shouted pointedly over the noise of rushing and rapidly heating water, glancing towards her before using his magic, "What do you have more faith in?!"

"Do you believe in that group of freaks? Or do you believe in what _we_ can do, together?!"

Juvia stared into her beloved's eyes in awe for a moment before regaining her composure and nodding. And without another word, Gray began to channel his magic energy into Juvia's, performing something similar to a Unison Raid on the monolith; and the pair's magic blended to supercool the water that was colliding against the massive stone. Within a minute, the stone's color began to return to black; and the pair grinned simultaneously before Gray told Juvia what to do next.

"I need a bigger hole in the ceiling, quick!" He shouted, and Juvia obeyed without hesitation by waving her right hand and causing a jet of water to widen one of the holes created from the previous fights that took place in the room.

As soon as the water cleared the new opening in the roof, Gray slammed his hands together before casting one final spell.

"Ice Make: Catapult!"

With every last ounce of his magic power, Gray created a siege weapon that was barely strong enough to launch the rapidly re-heating monolith; but Juvia knew what her partner was trying to do, and she quickly forced all the water she controlled into the underside of the once-again glowing stone. The force of their magic together was enough to launch it clear into the sky; and at the peak of its flight, it exploded in a large bright orange flash.

The resulting shockwave shook some rubble and debris loose, but the building held up while Gray and Juvia managed to remain on their feet. Totally exhausted from using their magic, the two looked at each other as they regained their strength. Juvia was going to start celebrating until she noticed Gray's expression suggested that there was something he was struggling to say.

"What is it, my love?" She asked curiously, "We just won, but something's bothering you…"

Gray gave her a reluctant look before speaking.

"We never talked about how we got you back from Edo," He began to explain, "How I got you back."

Juvia was nervously quiet, seeing that Gray was genuinely bothered by what he was saying.

"I gave into Edo's head games too." He confessed with quiet anger, "He said he'd bring you back to normal if I lied to everyone; and the lie was something very serious, it's something that I don't think I can be forgiven for… But I didn't care; I just wanted you back by my side… I… I needed you."

Juvia's eyes began to water as she listened, having never expected to hear Gray talk this way.

"I've got no right to talk tough…" He began to conclude, "And I certainly don't-"

Juvia interrupted him; however, by quickly moving to him and wrapping her arms around him in a meaningful hug.

"You don't have to say anything, Gray-sama." She comforted him while lightly squeezing his torso, "You saved me once again, and that's all I need to know. I love you, Gray-sama; and that's what matters."

She pressed her face against his neck to hide her tears; but she began to smile when Gray slowly returned the hug, tightening his grip on her before speaking.

"Please, Juvia," He requested quietly as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment,

"Just call me Gray."

In the city of Magnolia, inside Lucy Heartfilia's apartment…

The celestial wizard found herself suddenly awake after having a rather bizarre nightmare; and she rubbed her eyes before slowly sitting up and looking around her bedroom, wondering how long she had managed to sleep. From glancing out her window, she figured the sun was only starting to rise.

Guessing she had gotten as much sleep as she could, she sighed dejectedly before climbing out of bed and moving towards the bathroom. She was glad she wasn't having nightmares like tonight's frequently, or that she didn't sweat too much and ruin her pajamas; but she also knew that on nights where she did have the nightmares, she would never sleep comfortably. She turned the sink on and splashed cold water on her face before turning the faucet back off and exiting the bathroom.

Deciding to do what she usually did after having a nightmare, Lucy walked to her writing desk and sat in the desk's chair. She rifled through some papers atop the desk until she had all the parts of current attempt at a novel; and she briefly scanned a few pages to jog her memory, picking up a pen and getting to work as soon as her survey was finished.

She was writing for at least twenty minutes before realizing she forgot to grab a drink earlier when she began to feel thirsty; so she set her pen down and stood up, walking towards the small kitchen section of her apartment until she heard someone or something tapping the window by her bed.

Quickly turning around, Lucy saw an apparently nervous Happy was hovering outside and banging on her window; but he stopped knocking when he made eye contact with her, instead waving and shouting at her.

"Hurry up, Lucy!" He said impatiently, "Let me in!"

"What are you doing here so early, Happy?" She questioned as she began to open the window; but then she remembered part of her nightmare, and the reason why she had locked the window before going to sleep.

"And do you know how crazy you are," She added angrily when she was sure he could hear her, "Coming here after you embarrassed me at the guild like that?!"

She was about to slam the window shut in his feline face before Happy grabbed onto and used all his strength to stop her.

"Wait, Lucy…" He pleaded with some effort before trying to explain himself, "Please… it's important."

Lucy took half a second to consider his words before warning him, "If this is a setup for some kind of joke, I'm going to have you de-clawed."

Happy gulped nervously before swearing he was being honest; and Lucy finally allowed him into her apartment, closing the window behind him and asking him why he came over. Happy decided to give her the long version of the story.

"Well, after you chased me halfway across town; I ended up spending the day at the guild, enjoying some fish for lunch, and having dinner with Charle…"

"Happy," Lucy interrupted him, "Get to the point."

"Right." The Exceed said nervously, "Anyway, Charle went back to Wendy's place when it got really, really late; and since I didn't wanna go back to me and Natsu's place, I needed somewhere to sleep."

Lucy tried to hide her awkwardness with him mentioning Natsu, but Happy noticed it and decided to hurry along with his story.

"Mirajane let me stay at the guild, and I eventually found a really comfy spot on the S-Class floor. I was dreaming about the fish I had for lunch when a big commotion downstairs woke me up. I went to check it out, and I guess Mirajane was checking it out too; because when I got down there I saw her talking to Sting and Yukino from Sabertooth."

Hearing that a guild master and her fellow celestial wizard were in town piqued her interest, but what Happy said next took her by surprise.

"Yeah," He continued excitedly, "And get this: Mest, the teleporting guy that spied on everyone, he brought them here, along with Orga in a huge block of ice!"

"Wait," Lucy asked pointedly, "Do you mean Sabertooth's Orga? They caught one of Edo's guys?"

Happy was about to reply in the affirmative before Lucy angrily shouted at him.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?! Turn around, I've got to get dressed!"

By the time the two arrived at the guild hall, the commotion Happy described seemed to have quieted a while ago; but they did see Mirajane, Cana, and Yukino chatting by the bar, who stopped to see who was entering the guild.

"Good morning, Lucy." The takeover mage gave her usual greeting with her trademark smile before adding, "I guess Happy must have told you about our guests."

"It's so good to see you, Lucy." Yukino said happily as she got out of her seat to greet her friend, but Lucy noticed her wince as she stood up.

"You're hurt." Lucy pointed out the obvious with concern, moving quicker towards Yukino and asking about what happened while Happy landed on the bar beside everyone.

"Apparently Mest went by Sabertooth looking for help, and he picked up Gray and Juvia along the way." Cana cut in, now bored that she was hearing this for at least the third time, "That creep Edo had his goons attack the Council's Fiore headquarters and kidnap the workers there. We managed to grab Orga, but they got away with the workers."

"Okay…" Lucy replied slowly as she processed the information, finding a seat next to Yukino as she wondered, "But where's everyone at?"

"Gray and Juvia stayed behind to deal with some kind of trap Cel Rhea left for them," Yukino began to answer while retaking her seat, with a clear amount of concern in her voice, "And Mest went back to see if they need any-"

"We talked about this already. Trust me, they're okay." Cana interjected after she had finished another drink, "Those two are nearly unstoppable when they work together; you should be more worried about your friend that's passed out in the recovery room, or about the big guy Master Makarov brought downstairs."

Lucy gave the group a confused look before asking, "Why did Master take Orga downstairs?"

"Our first Master suggested it." Mirajane explained, "She said it would probably be a bad idea to keep him locked up with our other prisoner, and that she thinks that she might be able to help him by using the Lumen Histoire."

"Really?" Lucy replied curiously, "Did she say how?"

"Not really." Cana informed her as she held her mug out waiting for Mirajane to refill it, "She said it's only a hunch, but she thinks Edo's power can be blocked with it."

"It makes sense." The bartender agreed while pouring the card mage another drink, "Edo probably wouldn't have bothered to make his Dark Heart with Jose Porla if he could have just stolen Fairy Heart from us; and if he can't get to it…"

"He either doesn't know about it," Lucy finished Mirajane's sentence, "Or something's keeping him away from it."

"Bingo." Cana remarked before going back to drinking. Yukino was about to restate her gratitude for the Fairy Tail's help when Mest suddenly reappeared in the middle of the guild; and everyone was quick to notice he was alone.

"Where's Gray and Juvia?" Yukino questioned nervously while preparing to get up and offer to go help them; but Mest quickly replied.

"Relax, they're just fine." He reassured her, gesturing for Yukino to stay seated before telling them what he knew.

"Edo's crazy girlfriend tried to level the Council headquarters with a kind of bomb." He explained as he got closer to the bar, "But they managed to dispose of it safely. I went to take them back here, but the both said they wanted to take the long way back."

Lucy and Yukino were slightly confused by the choice, but Cana and Mirajane exchanged knowing glances before listening to the rest of Mest's statement.

"Gray did send back a message though," the teleport mage finished, "He thinks Sting's magic might be able to save Orga."

"He mentioned something like that earlier." Yukino mentioned the fact to the group, "He said that Sting might've been weakening Orga's connection to Edo without even knowing it."

"That's right." Mest confirmed her statement, "Gray pointed out that when he froze Orga, he could sense something was off about Orga's magic; and he remembered what Juvia's magic felt like when she was under Edo's control."

"Wait a minute, I do remember!" Yukino avoided shouting with hopeful joy as she spoke, "When they attacked our guild and fought Gohan, we were caught off-guard; and Sting didn't get a chance to use his magic until it was too late. Now that I think about it, Orga's magic energy did feel different. That night at Sabertooth, you could feel two kinds of magic in Orga and Juvia: one was clearly their elemental magic, and the other was clearly Edo's dark magic. But today, Sting _did_ get to use his magic this time; and Orga's magic energy felt jumbled, like there was an imbalance."

"There is an imbalance, and it's what's helping me keep him restrained." The group suddenly heard, except for Yukino, as Mavis Vermillion appeared sitting on the bar near Happy.

"The effect of Sting's magic has worn off though, right now my power is the cause of it." She revealed to most of the attentive group. Yukino was slightly confused until she glanced around the room and quickly figured out what was going on; assuming she would eventually get the important details, she decided to remain quiet.

"However, my magic is different from Sting's. I don't use any light magic like his." the First Fairy Tail master elaborated, nervously fiddling with a nearby mug as she did, "It seems to me that the intense amounts of magic power prevent Edo's power from reaching my resting place, like blocking a signal; but Sting's white magic was suppressing Edo's power from inside Orga, like it was cleansing him."

"It's starting to sound like Sting was performing an exorcism on him." Cana remarked humorously.

"You're more right than you probably think." Mavis agreed with the card mage, "Orga is, in a sense, possessed."

"So we can't help Orga until Sting wakes up?" Lucy concluded, and Mavis nodded.

"I'm afraid so." The Fairy Tactician, "And even then, because Edo's magic has slowly seeped into Orga's body, he might need help from a healer: someone that can physically cleanse a body. If we somehow combine Sting's magic with the healer, we should be able to purge Edo's power entirely from Orga."

"Lucky for us," Lucy chimed in happily, "We've got a very powerful healer that even knows a bit about that 'ki' stuff that Gohan's family fought with. She would definitely be able to tell if anything we did to Orga was helping or hurting him."

"I'll go get her!" Happy quickly volunteered; and he rocketed out the guild hall before anyone could respond, even failing to notice the man he almost hit with the door on his way out.

"I was going to suggest letting her rest a bit longer," Mavis remarked with a sigh, "But I guess rudely waking her up is fine too…"

Lucy shook her head hopelessly while Cana smirked and took another swig of her drink. Mirajane was amused, but her attention was still set on her job; and she offered Mest a seat at the bar, though he declined it.

"Thanks," He said gratefully, "But there are people from the Magic Council that need to know what happened; and where some of the people have gone."

He waved goodbye before warping away, and Yukino spoke up next.

"Since we're waiting, I should probably check on Sting." She thought aloud as she stood up, walking behind the bar and out of sight the next moment.

Cana waited until the group could hear the recovery room's door close before wondering aloud, "So… are those two, like, a thing?"

Lucy was going to start arguing with Cana about gossiping when the whole group was surprised to hear someone loudly knock twice from near the entrance to the hall, but they were a bit more surprised to see Jellal standing next to one of the columns in the entryway.

"Sorry to interrupt." He apologized as he explained his appearance, "But I'm here to have a chat with one of your prisoners."

Back on Earth…

Trunks paced around the atrium at Capsule Corps. while his girlfriend watched him and finished eating one of the many untouched desserts, which was the only good thing about people leaving the party so early. After Goten returned through Iga's portal, he was clearly upset at whatever Edo had shown him; and the young Saiyan left with his only explanation being an apology for leaving. His family soon went to check on him; and everyone else slowly left after they finished what they were eating and thanked Bulma for hosting them, while Vegeta returned to the GR to train as soon as Goten left.

Lisanna Strauss wanted the comfort-food at the moment; and the abundance of desserts of all kinds of varieties was an opportunity she could not pass up. Her boyfriend, however; was in no mood to eat. At first, he tried sitting with her and talking to get his mind off the whole situation; but he was clearly concerned for a lot of his friends, eventually making the conversation about them and starting to pace about nervously. He mentioned how worried he was about Goten; because he never acted like that before, or how he worried that Iga was not back yet. He also started guessing at what Edo could have showed them; but Lisanna was done eating, and she had had heard enough of his negativity.

"Trunks." She said firmly, but not impatiently; and the demi-Saiyan recognized her tone immediately and spun around to face her as she spoke.

"We'll hear from Iga when we hear from him. It's not like this is the first time he's taken off while we're in the middle of something." She pointed out reassuringly, "And Goten… He might be upset with whatever Edo showed him; and it might be something bad, I agree. But I know he's going to be fine."

She smiled at Trunks before adding, "He's got friends like you to help him, after all."

Trunks started to smile and begin to respond before a rectangular spot on the table in front of Lisanna began to glow bright white; and upon closer examination, Lisanna noticed it was not part of the table glowing, but a piece of paper that appeared as soon as the bright light faded from around it.

Trunks darted over to the table and grabbed the sheet just as Lisanna figured out it was a note, and he read it quickly before sighing with some relief.

"Good news, right?" Lisanna questioned before her boyfriend showed her the note, which read:

 _Found a Keeper, am handling it -will signal when safe to travel._

 _Enjoy the food, and sorry for ruining the party._

 _-Iga_

"For now." Trunks confirmed as she read, though he was still worried; and Lisanna noticed it.

"I have an idea." She declared as a wave of inspiration hit her, setting the note down and telling Trunks her idea after standing up.

"We should go out." She suggested, smirking when Trunks gave her a surprised look.

"Out where?" Trunks questioned blankly.

"Anywhere." She replied thoughtfully, "I don't know anything about Earth besides what you've told me. I've been in here the whole time."

"But the Keep-" Trunks began before Lisanna gently tapped the table impatiently and interrupted.

"I don't care about them, Trunks." She pointed out as she exercised her patience, "I care about you; and I want to know what we're fighting for. We're fighting so I can live here, aren't we?"

"We are, and I really like the idea of going out on an actual date." Trunks conceded, but he attempted to continue his argument anyway, "But we have no clue where-"

The takeover mage reached across the table and put a hand over Trunks' mouth in order to silence him.

"I get it, okay? I know how dangerous these Keepers could be." She pleaded him to hear her out, "They could be as strong as you; but they're probably much stronger, especially their leaders. But I'm not scared; and you shouldn't be either."

Taking her hand off his mouth, she continued making her point.

"Even if the worst happened to us, we have friends that would bring us back; and I seriously doubt they'd have to. We've got Goku and Vegeta on our side now, and you told me about some of the crazy things they can do when they get serious. I imagine that if something bad actually happened to you, Vegeta would probably take all the Keepers down in minutes."

Trunks took a deep breath as he listened, nervous that he was about to keep arguing; but he gathered his thoughts and chose his words carefully before actually speaking.

"You might be right, Lisanna." He said as calmly as he could, sit "But Goku and my father aren't perfect. Goku's very gullible, and my dad's pride sometimes gets the better of him; it makes him predictable. It doesn't matter how strong you are when someone that controls time itself decides to change your age with a simple spell. We have no clue what kind of tricks the rest of these Keepers might have."

"And we won't know them until we find out!" Lisanna nearly shouted in frustration, "Trunks, you of all people should know how it feels to be trapped somewhere! This might be your home, and you might know what's outside it; but I don't. All I know is that there is much more to this world than this building, and I'm tired of not getting to experience it!"

Trunks maintained eye contact with his girlfriend as she made an argument that he was more than sympathetic towards, but he still had one concern; and to him it was more important than anything else. He listened to every word she said before taking the seat across from her and holding her hands, speaking as he did.

"Lisanna, I can't let anything or anyone hurt you, I just can't; I wouldn't be able to handle it. Right now, I know that I'm not strong enough to protect you. And they could be outside right now, just waiting for us to step out. Iga's magic only works a certain way; they'll see you if they actually come here."

Lisanna calmly interrupted him again, this time by squeezing his hands roughly.

"And if that happened, then we'd face them together; and what would happen would happen." She made a final attempt at arguing, "But I'm not afraid to die if living means staying locked away and isolated from the rest of the world. Trunks, please…"

After a long moment of exchanging pleading looks at each other; Trunks finally caved.

"Okay," He sighed weakly, "If going out there matters that much to you, it matters to me too."

"Really?" She replied disbelievingly; and Trunks gave her an affirmative nod.

"Yes!" She exclaimed happily before literally jumping out her seat and tackling Trunks with a hug, causing them to tumble backwards over Trunks' chair, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Still laying on their sides and holding each other, Lisanna did not hesitate to place her lips on his in celebration; and he happily returned the kiss. After a brief moment they stopped kissing and Lisanna stood up before lifting a surprised Trunks onto his feet.

"C'mon," She ordered him as she took one of his hands and smirked with excitement, "Before we go out, we need to get you into the shower; and into some clothes that don't smell like sweat."

In a forest outside the town of Hargeon, minutes before Trunks received Iga's note…

The confused Dragon God tumbled through a few trees and shrubs before the person that threw him warped to a few yards in front of him and took a casual stance.

"Again," The Keeper reminded Iga, who was slowly getting up and gathering his thoughts, as she crossed her arms in boredom, "I'm here for a fight; and it doesn't matter who I look like."

"What does that mean?" Iga groaned as he finished standing up before adding with less effort, "Are you saying this is some kind of trick, and that you're not actually my dead wife?"

For the first time during their conversation, Claris did not respond with an attack; instead, she gave him a smirk.

"Wife or not," she teased him as she gestured to the empty space over her head, "Do I look dead to you?"

"Heh. Well, you pick my words apart like she did," Iga noted the fact aloud before getting back on topic, "Now, I'm gonna ask it again: who are you? Because you look and sound just like my wife did on the day she died."

The Keeper rolled her eyes in frustration before asking him, "Does it matter who I am? I'm here to fight you."

"It really does." Iga answered seriously before rubbing the large scar that ran along his throat, remembering in an instant all the pain he had felt the day he earned that scar; and Iga was doing his best to avoid taking that terrible trip down memory lane any further.

"I'd spar with Vesta if she would ask me to," He explained, "But I would never do anything to seriously harm her."

"And what if you didn't have a choice?" Claris posited, moving her right hand in an inquisitive gesture towards Iga, "What if she was trying to kill you?"

"Then I would die." He declared without thought or hesitation, "I barely recovered from losing her the first time; I wouldn't be able to deal with losing her again…"

The Keeper looked over Iga as he avoided making eye contact with her; and she slightly smirked at his awkwardness before sighing sadly.

"Well… if that's your final answer, then you can call me Claris." She said as she slowly started moving towards him, and she kicked him square in the abdomen before speaking again as he went staggering backwards.

"I'm the Keeper of Light, the Seer of All." She seemed to be chanting more to herself than to him, "And my job is to kill anyone that threatens the balance that I help keep!"

Iga was nearly finished recovering from her last attack when Claris suddenly grabbed him by the throat once again.

"But before we get to that," She spoke with a rather intimidating tone, "I need you to write a little note for me. You know, one that'll keep your friends from interrupting us."

Iga was going to attempt to decline; but Claris appeared to know his response before he gave it, tightening her grip on his neck instead of waiting for a reply. Instead, she gave him another reason to comply.

"If you don't do this," the Keeper threatened him gravely, "I will permanently take the eyesight from anyone that comes looking for you."

After an intense moment during which Iga tried to read the look on Claris' face; he gave in with a nod, seeing that she was clearly not bluffing.

"And don't try to write anything clever like coding your message." She gave him an additional warning as she released him, "I'll know if you do."

As Iga regained his balance, Claris reached to her right with one hand as a fist-sized portal simultaneously appeared in front of it; and she reached through it before withdrawing her hand from it as it closed and disappeared.

"Here, get to work" she instructed him as she tossed him a pen and piece of paper she had grabbed from the portal, "And be quick about it, I'm getting bored with this already."

A couple minutes later…

Iga was sitting awkwardly on the exposed root of a large tree behind him, staring at Claris as he examined every inch of the Keeper, who was sitting crossed-legged in the grass a few yards in front of him; and she was wearing the same smirk she had been wearing since she told him to sit down.

The only obvious difference Claris' appearance had with his wife was her clothing. Vesta usually wore a martial arts outfit that complimented his after she started living with him; but Claris was wearing a much different outfit: sporting a dark-green leather peplum jacket with the zipper halfway down to expose part of the bright red, form-fitting polyester shirt that was made of the same material as her jet-black pants. Iga did notice, however, that the shoes were very similar to Vesta's choice of footwear: black kung-fu shoes with white soles.

Finally no longer amused with Iga's nervously looking her over, Claris stood up and stretched her arms as she spoke.

"Well, it looks like your little note worked; I don't see anyone coming for you any time soon." She remarked with a satisfied tone before stretching her legs next as Iga slowly stood up, "So I guess that means we can finally get to down to business."

"I guess so." Iga agreed nervously before reminding her, "But you haven't answered my question yet."

He made no defensive stance as he asked her the question once again, but he did mentally brace himself to receive a violent response from her rather than an actual answer.

"Is this all some kind of trick, or are you actually Vesta?"

His voice might have sounded confident and forceful as he asked it, but Iga was far from confident at this point. He was currently too confused to process certain emotions at the moment, and fear was one of those feelings.

Claris however; was merely annoyed, thinking that they had covered this subject before. Iga sighed depressingly as she shook her head in amused frustration before pointing the palm of her right hand at him; and a red ki sphere half her size appeared before her.

"If you really want to know who I am," She offered him a deal, "Survive long enough against me, and maybe I'll tell you."

Before Iga could agree to her challenge, Claris fired the attack at him; and he only managed to get his arms between himself and the blast before he found himself tumbling backwards into the forest once again.

In the Shadow of the World…

Edo smirked merrily as he exited his laboratory, lazily waving a hand to make the doorway vanish into thin air; and the dark immortal walked down a small, unlit hallway until he reached the end of it. He waved a hand again while staring at the wall before him; and the wall transformed into an ornately sculpted archway that led into his bedroom, which was more like a small apartment in size.

At the very back and center of the room, on top of his ornate king-sized bed, Edo saw Cel Rhea was laying on her stomach with her head in her hands and feet in the air while looking at him with a playful expression, wearing a green bikini top and a very revealing miniskirt of the same color. He smirked, figuring that she was waiting for him and had jumped on the bed as soon as she sensed his approach.

"So?" She questioned him anxiously as he entered the room, "How're the guinea pigs holding up?"

Edo took his coat and shirt off before chucking both at the wall to the right of the entrance, which briefly opened into the doorway of a large walk-in closet; and he chuckled darkly before he answered her.

"Eh." He shrugged humorously as he stopped walking towards her, "We'll know in a day or so; but I'm pretty sure the first batch is doomed to fail."

The Titan looked at him curiously before asking him, "Fail? But haven't you made a demon once already?"

Edo replied first by waving a hand lazily; and the room began to shrink until the bed was at his feet, with Cel giggling faintly at him as she swayed with the movement of the bed.

"I have; and I've tinkered a bit with Zeref's greatest creation," the dark wizard agreed as his girlfriend began to sit upright, "But they're both bound to the books their curses are written into.

"I'm trying to create something genuine." He explained as Cel finished sitting up, "To make a form of life that's mostly reserved to urban legend and old wives' tales.

"You know, spooky campfire stories and stuff." Edo added with a chuckle while stepping out of his shoes; and Cel matched his smirk as she moved to reach for his belt, only just getting her right hand on the buckle before he surprisingly used his left hand to swat her hand away.

"No," He said mischievously as she remained still and gave him a slightly puzzled expression, "Let's try something different this time."

Cel sensed a small amount of magic energy appear behind her before feeling the strings around her neck and back spilt apart; and her top slid off as Edo climbed onto the bed, reaching for and gently touching her face as he did. She responded by moving closer until they were kissing, moaning in pleasure as he pushed towards her until she was laying down and he was hunched over her while sitting between her legs; and as soon as she was in the position he desired, he stopped kissing her in order to tell her something he forgot to mention earlier.

"You should know," He informed her with his best attempt at a serious tone while aimlessly running his right hand vertically across her body and down to her left knee, "We're entering the interesting part of the game at the moment. Our enemies are close to finding an advantage against us; and there are a few players on the field that are capable of throwing everything into total disarray."

"You're saying I shouldn't have let Orga get captured, aren't you?" Cel asked pessimistically, "That I should have helped him?"

"Not at all." Edo reassured her, much to her surprise, "It was a bit premature, but I planned on giving him back to them anyways."

"You were?" The Earth God Slayer replied curiously; and her boyfriend nodded before explaining some more of his plans.

"I was." He informed her, "Since we're getting towards the riskiest part of this whole venture, it's finally come time to see who actually deserves to have my power; and Orga was too single-minded to ever live up to my legacy, his getting captured proved that."

"And that's also why you traded off Juvia?" Cel deduced, and Edo nodded in the affirmative.

"And is Zancrow the next to go?" She guessed, and Edo shrugged before answering.

"He could be." The shadow mage said cryptically, "I've been playing around with an idea on how to test him, and its something that could benefit us however it plays out; for him though, maybe not so much."

"Care to share?" The intrigued earth mage questioned him, and he smirked before leaning down until he was whispering his plan into her left ear. She grinned evilly as he explained his scheme; and he matched her smile as he finished.

"And now that that's out the way…" He concluded as he slowly sat back up while running a finger down the middle of her abdomen, stopping it just above the top of her skirt, "We can get back to this…"

He nimbly ripped her skirt off the next second, making her smirk excitedly.

"Your mission with Orga might not have gone smoothly, but you did not fail to complete the main goal of today." He said as he slowly took his belt off and tossed it aside, "Like I asked, you showed restraint against Gray and his friends; and when I ordered a retreat, you swallowed your pride and obeyed, unlike Orga. And we both know that pride is one of your bigger weaknesses…

"Today was a test for you," He informed her happily while placing both hands by her sides and leaning over her again, "And you passed it, nearly perfectly. So, it's only fair that you should be rewarded for it."

He moved his lips to hers and briefly kissed her before beginning to kiss her neck; and she moaned as he started moving his mouth lower and lower onto her body while occasionally rubbing various parts of her body with one of his hands.

Cel's breathing was getting shallower as she laid back and moaned lightly, and she briefly held her breath when she felt his mouth reach the top of her dark-green panties. She was glad she looked at him just in time to see him use his teeth to rip her underwear off of her, getting more excited than she had ever been before; and the next instant, she jolted her head backwards in pure bliss as her lover began to work on giving her the best reward he could think of: a whole day of pleasuring her in every way he could think of.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter VI: Reminder

 **In a forest outside Hargeon…**

Iga was panting as he stared at his hunter cautiously, holding the same defensive stance since the start of their fight; and Claris was slowly getting annoyed by his tactics.

"You know," She stated with an annoyed tone, despite her casual stance, "It's not much of a fight if you don't actually attack."

The male of the two redheads smirked with satisfaction to see his strategy was working, and he let Claris see his merriment for a moment before replying to her.

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't me that said I had to survive a fight with you." He countered while maintaining his guard, "Surviving doesn't have to mean winning the fight, you know."

The Keeper of Light smirked for an instant when he used her own words against her, but her humor quickly departed since she now understood his current strategy. Frustrated, with her face clearly showing it, she tapped her right foot on the ground impatiently while trying to think of a way to motivate her target into fighting back.

Iga was about to make a snarky comment to keep getting under Claris' skin; but he quickly lost his train of thought when he saw the Keeper's eye color change from the eerily-familiar bright green into a solid white, giving Iga a mental image of a shark just before it strikes. Thinking his imagination might be closer to reality than he thought, he saw a grin form on Claris' face that could only be described as predatory; and he began to wonder what she was scheming.

"It looks like our commotion has drawn the attention of the locals." She informed him, "We've only got a few minutes before we might be interrupted by some guild wizards."

"And I get the feeling that you're not going to be very happy with that." Iga concluded tentatively, knowing that the guild to respond first would likely be Lamia Scale. He also knew that none of the wizards from there would stand a chance against Claris, and that they would be needed in the fight against Zeref; but he did not expect the next words that came out of the Keeper's mouth.

"I don't know about that," She responded to him with a very sinister tone, "I'm thinking the risk of collateral might be just what you need to get serious."

"But I thought I was your-" He began to question until she interrupted with a question of her own.

"Have you ever stopped to wonder if you use your magic to the fullest?" She asked curiously before elaborating, "I mean, have you ever considered every form of light? You use your magic to spy on people, to conceal yourself, for combat, and for transportation; but have you ever used it to cook?"

Iga gave her a severely confused look before replying, "I've used my fire magic to cook before, if that's what you mean."

Claris sighed impatiently before explaining what she meant.

"Our light magic allows us to bend some laws of physics, as you know. We can move through space much quicker than light itself, occasionally we can use it to see through time, and we can even compress light into solid objects; but those are just the fancy tricks. You see, the only type of light you've ever used was the visible kind; but we can use many other forms of light than that.

"But you might not know about any of that, would you?" She remarked midst her speech, "There's a few things you could learn from those scientists on Earth. Ever heard of a thing called radiation?"

Iga remained silent to allow the Keeper to finish making her point.

"You know how sunlight can burn skin within hours, right?" She questioned rhetorically before delivering a frightening image, "Well, imagine what the light of a thousand suns could do."

Claris held her hands before herself as if she were creating something between them; and although Iga saw nothing appear as she widened the gap between her hands to a couple of feet, he started to feel a faint, tingling warmth on his skin. He imagined his immunity to heat and higher pain tolerance was severely dampening the pain he should be feeling, but he had a good idea of how painful this burning sensation would be to a normal human being.

"Imagine if I simply directed this towards our uninvited guests." She threatened with a smirk still on her face, "Fun fact, everything physical can be melted at high enough temperatures, or with enough radiation; but there are some things that burn and crumble apart before that can happen."

Claris aimed her palms at a nearby tree, and Iga watched as the bottom half of the tree began to glow bright orange. In a matter of seconds, the tree was totally on fire until Claris dropped her hands and momentarily flared her ki to create a gust of wind powerful enough to extinguish the flames. Iga noticed the tingling sensation on his skin was fading away before finally responding to her threats.

"Claris, look," He pleaded calmly one last time, "I know I can't kill you unless I totally obliterate you; and I think we both know that I probably don't have the strength to do that at the moment. If you want a fun and challenging duel, you're not going to get that from me; and it's even less likely when I consider who you possibly are. I have no plans to ever see Vesta injured or mutilated ever again."

"Even if I plan on killing anyone I please until you try to stop me?" Claris wondered ominously, "These people are important to your plans against Edo, aren't they? You'd throw away their lives, all for the sake of your long-dead lover?"

"I'd throw everything away for her!" He promised her defiantly, planning on saying more until a thought occurred to him; and his sudden silence gave the Keeper a moment to ponder her next move.

"I see." She said thoughtfully, and Iga noticed her tone and expression seemed softer for barely a moment before she regained her humorous and sinister stance, "Well, if you're going to call my bluff; I guess I better double down."

Her eyes changed back into solid white as she slowly rose into the air while gathering an amount of magic energy that nearly overwhelmed Iga's magical senses; but just as she began to launch herself toward the nearby guild wizards, she was surprised to be blocked by Iga.

Having focused all his power into his speed, he took advantage of Claris' confused inaction by grabbing her jaw firmly with his right hand; and she began to grin eagerly as Iga made a final split-second decision on either of his two desperate plans.

Claris' smirk faded, however, when she felt Iga pull her closer and place his lips onto hers. Stunned by the act, she tried to shove him away; but Iga noticed she was putting none of her strength into the effort, feeling more like she was simply holding her hands against his torso. He grinned when he saw her blink in confusion as her eyes returned to normal; and he was about to explain his actions when Claris took her turn to surprise him, quickly replacing her lips onto his before deepening the kiss and holding onto him tightly with both arms.

Claris seemed to be enjoying herself, and Iga felt her end the kiss and loosen her hold on him with a grin; but before he could say what he was thinking, he felt intense pain as she drove her right knee into his abdomen.

"That was pretty good…" She admitted with her ever-present grin while using her energy to keep him floating before her; and with Iga to stunned by her attack to interrupt her, she grabbed him by the throat once again before reminding him, "But I'm not here for _that_ kinda fun!"

In the next instant, Claris hurtled her opponent through a portal just large enough for him before slowly following Iga through.

Standing on the edge of a large crater near the forests outside Hargeon, Lyon Vastia and Sherria Blendy were only just beginning their investigation on the cause of the crater; and after having heard a couple loud booms emanating from the forest, they were about to start their jog around the crater when the pair suddenly saw a half-dressed man with long and unkempt red hair fall from the sky and crashed into the center of the crater.

"What the-" Sherria stuttered at the surprising image before her, "How'd he get there?"

"He must have teleported there." Lyon made the obvious guess as he and his partner watched the red-haired stranger slowly stand up.

"I think it's very possible that this man has something to do with this devastation before us." The Ice Make mage observed with a warning, "Be ready for anything, Sherria."

Sherria smirked in response as she moved to stand on the very edge of the crater and began to focus her magic energy.

"Oh, Lyon, don't you know?" The sky mage feigned a disappointed tone as the stranger finished regaining his balance and turned towards her, "That's what love's all about!"

Lyon was busy stifling his amusement, about to remind his partner to focus when the stranger called out to them.

"Hey there, guys!" He shouted amiably, but his voice betrayed the fact that was clearly fatigued; and Sherria was the first to notice the wide assortment of injuries across his body.

"Now listen," Iga began awkwardly before trying to warn them cautiously as he approached, "Normally at this point, I'd have introduced myself and eagerly requested help from two of Lamia Scale's best. But today has been nowhere close to normal."

"You're telling me." Sherria agreed humorously, casually placing her hands on her hips as she continued to examine the man's body.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to explain what's going on," Iga continued his attempt to warn the pair of wizards, "The important fact is that you two need to get out of here as quickly as possible; you're in danger if you're anywhere near me right now."

"Is that so?" Lyon remarked skeptically before scanning his surroundings once again.

"Who were you fighting?" Sherria quickly asked with a hint of concern, "Cause it doesn't look like you were winning, from what I see."

"Well, that's because I'm not." Iga admitted while awkwardly scratching the back of his head before taking a more serious stance, "Look guys, you can trust me; I'm a friend of the Fairy Tail guild. Believe me when I say that you need to leave, and you gotta leave now."

Unsure what to think of the stranger, Sherria glanced towards her partner in order to follow his lead; and she easily recognized the skeptical look on the ice wizard's face before turning back to the redhead.

"Yeah, we're going to need a little bit more info than that." She said with he best attempt to sound polite; in her opinion: he acted weirdly, but he didn't appear to be lying. Another reason Sherria decided to follow her partner's lead was that she also found the stranger to be very easy on the eyes; and she was worried that her judgement was clouded by the fact, knowing that one of her weaknesses was cute guys.

"Perhaps you should start by telling us who gave you those injuries." Lyon suggested, "Or who you are and how you're connected to Fairy Tail."

Iga sighed desperately before trying to be polite one last time, "We seriously do not have time for this. Lyon, Sherria; please."

The weird stranger was clearly begging them to go, and Sherria was starting to think her and her partner should listen to the man; but she was suddenly intrigued by the man when she decided to try sensing the redhead's magic energy.

"Hang on a sec…" She said quickly before inhaling so deeply through her nose that Iga felt the wind's direction momentarily shift around him.

"You're a god, aren't you?" She questioned the stranger nervously, "I've never met one before, but somehow I can tell…"

"Well, folks, I'm afraid that's about all the time we have!" Iga exclaimed with dismissive humor before creating two portals underneath the Lamia Scale wizards, "This has been fun and all, but I don't have time for the Q&A."

Sherria could feel the sudden shift in the air the instant the portal below her began to open, and she nimbly leapt aside before she could lose her footing. Her partner, however, was slightly slower to react; and Lyon found himself instinctively clutching at the edge of the rift as he began to fall through. His reflexes did not fail him, but the ground he was reaching for did fail him; and the ice mage felt the dirt and grass in his hands crumble and come apart as he fell.

"Lyon!" Sherria shouted in concern while diving towards her partner, but the portal Lyon entered sealed itself as soon as he was through. Now angry and fearing for her friend, Sherria spun towards the redhead while beginning to charge up an intense amount of magic energy; and she yelled at him as soon as she was facing him.

"What did you do with him?!" She demanded impatiently, "Bring him back, right now!"

"Not happening." Iga replied flatly; he was too annoyed about underestimating the God Slayer's agility to feign humor, "Sorry, but I promise I did nothing to hurt him."

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Sherria quipped before warning the stranger, "Bring him back before I make you bring him back!"

"Threats get you nowhere, kiddo." Iga remarked dismissively while mentally preparing for whatever response he was about to get from her, knowing that he was more than likely about to anger her further; but he had finally reached the limit of his patience with her.

"Now, run along home while you can, little girl." He added with a snarky grin and tone, "Let the adults take care of the grown-up problems, okay?"

"Why you-" Sherria stammered indignantly, and she finished gathering her magic energy as she added, "You're about to pay for that.

"Sky God's Bellow!"

Iga swore under his breath before jumping to his right and easily dodging the linear attack; but Sherria's rapid assault was not finished. Leaping to her right to gain some distance from her opponent, the sky mage twisted her body mid-air to face Iga once again before cocking her right arm back and creating a vortex of black wind with her hand at the epicenter.

"Sky God's Boreas!"

The dark beam of air flying towards Iga was a bit wider and faster than the previous spell's, but Iga did not expect the attack to turn and follow him when he tried to leap out of its way.

Sitting nonchalantly on the far side of the crater's edge, Claris looked on in amusement as she enjoyed show, having decided to use the moment to evaluate her target once more. His refusal to fight her was making it difficult to estimate his true strength; and from her memory of him, he seemed much stronger than his current state. Having a God Slayer nearby was too convenient of an opportunity to refuse, in her opinion; and after all, if her target was not capable of fending off merely one God Slayer, what chance would he have against a God Destroyer?

Iga, however, was busy trying to think of a way to defuse the situation as he managed to use his energy to shield himself from Sherria's attack; and he continued to think of what to say as the smoke from the resulting explosion cleared, until suddenly one idea occurred to him. It was a rather extreme concept, but Iga was getting desperate and knew he could not afford to be wasting his time and energy slugging it out with a God Slayer.

"Hey, Sherria? Before you start trying to attack me again, I need to know something." He asked her with a politely curious tone that caught her off guard, "As a Sky God Slayer, are you able to fly?"

"What?" She replied, confused, "Kinda, but-"

"That's good enough for me!" Iga proclaimed cheerily before giving the sky mage a farewell warning, "Now, remember to hold your breath for the first part of this…"

Before Sherria could question what he meant by his forewarning, but the answer was immediately obvious when she felt the air underneath her begin to shift again. This time, however, the God Slayer could do nothing as the portal seemed to draw her in with an unexpectedly-powerful force; and the portal quickly sealed itself as soon as Sherria was all the way through.

"Phew…" Iga sighed with relief, "At least that's one problem outta the way.

"Now then," He then wondered aloud as he looked around only to see Claris appear before him, "Where were we?"

 **Back on Earth…**

Natsu Dragneel scratched his head as he found himself walking down a long hallway on one of the top floors of Capsule Corp, having exited one of Bulma's labs with the intention to raid the leftover food from the party he unwillingly crashed; but it did not take long after leaving for him to realize he forgot the start of the directions Bulma gave him.

Fortunately for the Salamander, as soon as he found himself in the center of the hallway, which was a three-way intersection; he heard the unmistakable ring of an elevator bell, which he quickly followed. He was not sure whether he wanted to ride the elevator or not, but he assumed that whoever was inside it would know where the stairs were; and as he stood before the elevator's opening door, he was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by his two friends Lisanna Strauss and Trunks Briefs.

"Oh, hey Natsu!" Lisanna said with a hint of surprise as she and her boyfriend stepped out the elevator, "We were just on the way to see you."

"I'm lucky you were, 'cause I'm kinda lost." Natsu admitted to her sheepishly before looking at Trunks and adding, "Your mom gave me directions, but I forgot most of them."

Lisanna shook her head amusedly while Trunks chuckled before replying to him.

"I'm guessing you're looking for the stairs?" the demi-Saiyan deduced, and he heard Natsu confirm his guess before moving to lead the way, "Well then, follow me."

The three made it down to the first floor within a few minutes, which went by quick as the couple made sure Natsu was up to speed with everything that was happening; and it was not much longer until the trio was out the door and on the sidewalk. That was when Trunks realized they had one small dilemma: Natsu's motion sickness prevented the use of vehicles.

"What is it?" Lisanna asked her boyfriend when she noticed the pensive look on his face, but Trunks quickly developed a solution before answering her.

"It's nothing." Trunks explained honestly, "I was wondering how we'd get to Gohan's without a ride, but I can carry both of you if you use your magic."

"Oh, right." Lisanna remembered Natsu's weakness before quickly using her magic to transform into a tiny mouse once again, "Better?"

"Much." Trunks agreed as he lowered a hand and allowed Lisanna to scamper up his arm before she quickly leapt into on of the pockets on the front of his jacket.

Turning to face Natsu next, the demi-Saiyan asked him if he was ready to take off; and the Salamander nodded before Trunks moved beside Natsu and allowed him to wrap an arm over his shoulders while he wrapped an arm around the wizard's torso.

"Hang on tight." Trunks told both his passengers before rocketing into the sky the next second; and it wasn't long until the three were in the skies above Mt. Paozu.

"So this is where Gohan and Goten live?" Natsu remarked after Trunks slowed down and began to land on the sidewalk that connected the Son family homes, "I like it."

"People usually do." Trunks agreed before releasing the dragon slayer when they were a foot from the ground, and the pair landed on their feet smoothly before Lisanna scampered out of Trunks' jacket before leaping onto the ground and reverting into her human form.

"No offense," Natsu remarked humorously after landing, "But I think I prefer flying with Happy."

"None taken." Trunks replied with a brief smirk before noticing Lisanna and Natsu were examining the three buildings before them.

"Gohan's is this one," Trunks pointed to the white dome-shaped house to their right, then he turned towards the middle of the three buildings, "And this one is Goten's."

"And what about that one?" Natsu questioned as he turned to look at the third house, which was not connected to the other two by any of the sidewalk, "Who's house is that?"

"That one belonged to Goku's grandfather." Trunks answered, starting to lead the three through the gate before Gohan's home, "Goku lived there until he married Chi Chi; and after that, they had to build a house big enough for a family."

"And Videl had the idea to build a new home out here after dating Gohan for a while," Lisanna finished the story, recalling what Bulma had told her about the family and what she had learned from others at the party, "They moved here together just before they got married."

"And we don't plan on leaving anytime soon." The trio heard Gohan say as he opened the door before Trunks could reach it and knock, and he greeted his three guests without hesitation, "What's up, guys? Want to come in?"

"Lisanna and I would love to, but," Trunks began to explain before Natsu interrupted.

"But these two are trying to go find somewhere to make out in private." The fire mage teased them, grinning when he saw Lisanna blush before turning back to Gohan and adding, "I didn't feel like being a third wheel-"

"And since we didn't think keeping Natsu around million-dollar technology was a smart idea," Lisanna interjected while wrapping an arm around one of her boyfriend's, taking her turn to grin when she saw her friend's moderately annoyed expression before he resumed speaking.

"So… I asked Trunks if he could drop me off here before they went somewhere else." Natsu finished explaining, "That Capsule place might be cool and full of smart people, but all the scents and noises from inside; and from the city, it's a little overwhelming."

"I know what you mean." Trunks agreed before facing Gohan and asking him, "You don't mind letting Natsu stay with you, do you?"

"Not at all." The dead demi-Saiyan assured him before asking out of curiosity, "Any idea where you two are headed?"

"Not really." Lisanna said honestly, "We're probably just going to walk around West City, see the sights."

"We might go see a movie, though." Trunks added thoughtfully, trying and failing to remember exactly where he obtained this next piece of information, "I know movie theaters aren't a thing back on Earthland."

"Well, whatever you do, have fun and stay safe." Gohan wished them well before opening the door further so Natsu could enter, "And if you want some good food later tonight, you're more than welcome to join our little party tonight."

"And Natsu, try not to be you while you're here." Lisanna teased her friend one more time after her and Trunks bid Gohan farewell, "Since we're the only two people from Earthland here, it'd make everyone else from there look bad if you ate all their food or put a hole in their house."

Natsu was going to retort as Lisanna and Trunks walked away, but Gohan chuckled and patted him on the back before guiding him inside.

"Don't worry, Natsu." Gohan told the wizard amusedly as he closed the door behind them, "Having things broken and running out of food is par for the course when you live around here."

The dragon slayer smirked in response while looking around the massive, two floor room he just walked into. He could hear a small commotion coming from somewhere behind the staircase at the back of the room; and he guessed it was being caused by the house's other two residents before turning around to speak to Gohan.

"Nice place." He complimented before remarking, "This is much nicer compared to all those hallways at Trunks' place."

"Thanks." Gohan accepted graciously before offering Natsu whichever seat he wanted; and the fire mage sat on one of the couches by the coffee table that was on the left when he walked in.

"I'm guessing Bulma said you're in top shape." Gohan deduced as he sat in the couch opposite the one Natsu chose, explaining how he knew before being told, "I figured whatever Edo was doing to control you was some kind of curse or spell; so as long as he's not around, you should be just fine."

"I just wish I could punch his teeth in." Natsu replied angrily, leaving Gohan unsure if the fire mage even heard his reassurances.

"I would agree with you," the demi-Saiyan informed his guest matter-of-factly, "But I think he likes to feel pain.

"When I fought him, it was hard to tell if I was hurting him or not because of the way he acted." He added thoughtfully as he recalled his battle with the dark wizard.

"And fighting him is how you got that ring over your head." Natsu remembered what Bulma and the others had told him at Capsule Corp. before admitting his guilt, "You know, I feel kinda bad I didn't do anything to help you back then; but I don't really remember where I was when it happened, I think I was taking a nap at Lucy's or something… when I try to remember what happened after me and Gajeel helped Erza beat that guy with the crazy sand magic, my mind just goes blank."

Gohan scratched his head awkwardly before replying, "Yeah, but that's actually because Iga had your memory wiped right after the fight. You actually helped me and Trunks out a lot."

"And why did my memory have to get changed?" Natsu questioned, slightly annoyed at the fact; but his annoyance was tempered when he briefly remembered the way Edo spoke about the redheaded immortal.

"Because you heard Iga's full name at a bad time." Gohan explained honestly, "Iga told me you got distracted by it right at the end of the fight, and he wanted you to stay focused on protecting Fairy Tail."

"Okay," The Salamander accepted most of the reasoning for the memory wipe, except for one issue he had with the thought process, "But why would I freak out about hearing that guy's name?"

Thinking of how he should answer, Gohan fidgeted awkwardly in his seat before replying, "I'm sorry, Natsu; but I'm not sure if it's my place to tell you it or not. I'm sure he has other reasons for hiding it, but I can tell he prefers to be called by his nickname; hearing his real name seems to bother him sometimes, but I don't know why."

"Why should I care about what bothers him?" Natsu asked in quiet frustration, "He went and played around with my head!"

Gohan sat patiently while trying to think of a good way to change the subject until Natsu started pleading for information.

"Gohan, seriously. I just found out that I'm actually a universe away from my home and my guild, which could be attacked by, apparently, my brother -the mass murdering dark wizard who turned me into a demon just so I could kill him. And on top of that, now there are these 'Keeper' guys that are apparently way stronger than I am; and they want to kill me just for being here. I think I can handle hearing what some jackass' name is."

Gohan could not agree more with the dragon slayer, and he felt empathy for the young wizard; but it took another, much longer awkward silence before Gohan finally gave in, alleviating his guilt by thinking about how he never actually promised Iga that he would keep his name secret.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you," He said before adding one concession, "But try not to act differently toward Iga when you see him next; because if he finds out I told you, he might get mad at me. And we really need his help right now."

"Alright, Gohan, I get it." Natsu replied, still somewhat annoyed but sounding calmer when he spoke, "You're worried I'll freak out like I did last time; but I won't, I promise."

Gohan hesitated for another brief instant, hoping Videl or Pan might interrupt the conversation; but no fortunate event ever occurred, so the demi-Saiyan finally spoke up after seeing that Natsu seemed genuine about his promise.

"Iga's real name," He finally revealed, still nervous about the reaction he was about to receive,  
"Is Igneel."

There was a brief instant where Natsu was either processing the information or trying to decide if he believed Gohan, sitting totally still in his seat and staring blankly at the demi-Saiyan for half a second before finally reacting.

"Really?!" He almost shouted and jumped out of his seat in surprise, but he remembered his promise to avoid overreacting; and he managed to catch himself by grabbing onto the arms of the couch, though he could not keep his voice down as well as he could his body. And although Gohan knew his reaction could have been much worse, Natsu did yell loud enough for Videl to hear him.

"Everything okay over there, Gohan?" The two heard her call out from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Videl, everything's fine." He called back reassuringly, "I'm just talking about our current situation with our guest."

"It's Natsu, right?" She guessed from her ki sense, "I'll come out and say hi in a second, bec-"

The men in the living room heard Videl stop as a brief but louder commotion broke out until Pan came flying from the back of the house and straight at Natsu as soon as she saw him.

"Natsu-nii!" She cheered excitedly before attempting to hug him while flying full-speed, and before Gohan could react, the two toppled over the side of the couch.

"Hey… Pan…" Natsu replied weakly as the air returned to his lungs, and Gohan shook his head apologetically.

"Sorry," He asked for the dragon slayer's forgiveness as Natsu slowly got up while Pan climbed off him, "I should have said that that could happen."

"It's fine," The fire mage easily forgave him while returning to his seat, "I forgot how strong she is."

"I'm getting stronger, too!" Pan informed him proudly, levitating before the two until she landed next to Natsu, "And one day, I'm gonna be as strong as my grandpa!"

"That's Goku, right?" The Salamander recalled aloud, getting a nod from the father-daughter duo before asking Pan, "How strong is he?"

"He's really strong!" She answered cheerily, "Grandpa G can beat anyone!"

Gohan noticed the slightly dissatisfied look on Natsu's face when they heard her answer, and he made a guess at what it meant aloud.

"If you're trying to figure out if you could fight him or not," the demi-Saiyan said, which made Natsu smirk since his guess was dead-on, "All I'll say is be careful; he's never fought a magic user, so either one of you could get hurt… but, my dad has some abilities that make it hard to say how strong he is."

"What does that mean?" Natsu asked curiously, and Gohan had to take a moment to decide how to explain.

"It means that he can do things I never imagined possible." He clarified, "Even if I said how strong he is, he always gets stronger from a fight, even during them sometimes; and it doesn't matter who it's with."

"Really?" Natsu questioned with interest, "And what kind of 'abilities' are you talking about?"

"Grandpa G told me about one!" Pan suddenly chimed in, "He said that when he turns his hair grey, he's able to avoid any attack someone uses on him!"

"That does sound cool." Natsu told the cheerful young Saiyan before looking to Gohan with a mind to ask more about Goku, but the trio's conversation was interrupted by Videl's entrance.

"Alright, that's two cakes in the oven." She announced proudly while removing the pink apron she was wearing and letting it rest temporarily on the railing of the stairs; and she moved to sit next to her husband while still speaking, "But I think with you around, Natsu, we might need a couple more."

Natsu smirked in response before he greeted her, and she greeted him back before turning to her husband.

"So what were you guys talking about earlier, before Pan interrupted?" She inquired, "I could have sworn I heard one of you shouting."

"That was me," Natsu fessed up, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Videl accepted his needless apology politely before Gohan explained what happened.

"It was more my fault than his anyway," he added thoughtfully, "I told him what Iga's name is."

"Ah…" Videl remarked with sudden understanding, "That makes sense, considering that his name is the same…"

Her sentence faltered as she realized she was probably about to touch on a sore topic for Natsu, so she quickly decided to change the subject.

"And anyway," She said to Natsu with a brighter tone in her voice, "Has my husband tried to help you figure out where you're staying yet? Or did Bulma and Trunks already take care of that?"

"They offered me a room at their house," Natsu informed her, "But I've never really liked living in the city, so I was hoping you guys could help me out."

"I'm sure we can." Videl assured him before thinking aloud, "Hm, since we gave Pan her own room, we don't have a spare one anymore; but there is a spare bed next door, isn't there?"

Gohan nodded, "It used to be mine until I moved out."

"And what about that empty house?" Natsu asked curiously, "It was your great grandpa's, right? Do you think your dad would let me stay there?"

"Huh." Gohan said thoughtfully, realizing he had almost forgotten that the tiny blue home even existed, "I don't know. I doubt my dad would say no; but I think the last time someone was in there was when Piccolo spent a few nights there, and that was years ago. There might be some cleaning required before its livable…"

"I'm not afraid to do a little house work." The fire mage reminded him.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem." Videl concluded the topic before standing up to go check on the food she was baking, "Just remember to ask Goku or Chi Chi about it later tonight. Now, if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."

"Me too!" Pan chirped as well before following her mother out the room; and as soon as the two were gone, Natsu decided it was time to find some way to kill time before dinner.

"So how come you're not helping get ready for this party? I thought it was Goten's birthday." He asked Gohan first, hoping to get a certain answer before discussing his idea.

"It is," Gohan explained, "But I was in Otherworld for nearly two and a half years and I only just got back today, so Mom wanted to celebrate my return too."

"Otherworld?" Natsu repeated, totally unfamiliar with the place.

"It's the afterlife." Gohan explained, "Each universe has one, and its where most of the gods live. If you live a good life, you might be allowed to keep your body when you die, like I did; and there are some places in Otherworld that are a martial artist's dream come true -its always full of people ready for a challenge, and you've got all the time you need to get as strong as you want."

"Sounds nice." Natsu remarked, and Gohan nodded.

"It is," He confirmed before adding honestly, "But getting there isn't the most enjoyable of experiences…"

"I bet." Natsu agreed before wondering, "But you must be way stronger than when we fought last time, right?"

"I should be." Gohan replied modestly while scratching the back of his head.

"So…" Natsu suggested while trying to stifle the excitement in his voice, "Maybe you could show me…?"

"Maybe some other time," Gohan declined, much to the wizard's disappointment, "Sorry, but I just got done training and sparring for nearly three years. I'd like to relax for just a little while if I can."

Gohan was going to let Natsu whine about his decision, which was exactly what the fire mage intended to do; but Gohan had an idea that could kill two birds with one stone.

"But," He quickly added just as Natsu began to open his mouth, "Goten might be up for a sparring match right now."

"Yeah?" the dragon slayer asked curiously, "But aren't you guys leaving him alone 'cause he's upset about something that creep showed him?"

"We are, because he asked us not to follow him." Gohan acknowledged before explaining, "But I'm going to steal one of Iga's tactics here and point out that Goten never told you to leave him alone. Judging by how his energy feels right now, he's still training trying a few miles from here."

Natsu was considering the offer, about to ask if Gohan could take him when suddenly a man that looked eerily similar to Goten, in nearly every way, appeared a few feet from Gohan's left; and Natsu immediately recognized him as Son Goku, the legendary warrior that he had been hearing about ever since he arrived.

"Whoa," the fire mage said with some surprise at Goku's sudden appearance; but he was more impressed with the Saiyan's stature, and Natsu did not need ki sense to know that the man standing before him was very powerful, "You can do that teleporting trick too?"

"He taught me it," Gohan informed Natsu before turning to Goku, "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, really." The elder Saiyan said casually before explaining, "I just had to get out the house for a second. Chi Chi's real worried about Goten, and I think she wants me to go talk to him; but Goten said to stay away, and…"

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that anymore." Natsu interrupted him amiably before quickly volunteering, "I'm gonna go and have a chat with him."

Gohan was intrigued by Natsu's sudden eagerness to meet up with Goten, and it made more sense to him as soon as Natsu added one more question towards Goku.

"Can you take me there?" the Salamander requested, and Goku thought it over for a second before replying.

"Sure," He agreed before scratching the back of his head awkwardly and adding, "But uh… who are you, again?"

 **On Earthland, on the outskirts of Hargeon…**

Iga was breathing heavily as he stared at Claris, who was hovering at least thirty feet above him.; and even though he had just taken another beating from her, Iga somehow managed to find his dire situation amusing.

"Heh." He chuckled weakly at an amusing thought he had, and the Keeper of Light was clearly not as amused as he was.

"What the hell are you laughing about?!" She demanded in annoyance while angrily clenching her right hand into a fist, "There's nothing to laugh about here, I'm about to kill you, remember?! Or did I just hit you on the head too hard?"

"Anytime I get hit on the head is 'too hard'." Iga remarked humorously before informing her, "But, no, that's not why I'm laughing. I'm laughing at you, silly."

Iga could see a vein throbbing in her forehead before she ruthlessly fired a overcharged blast of red ki directly towards him, but the powerful attack was easy for him to dodge with one leap to the either side; and when Claris rushed him for a follow-up attack like she had before, Iga was prepared this time.

Claris was momentarily surprised when Iga caught her right fist with his right hand, but she hesitated intentionally with the hope that he was finally going to fight back; and when he did not, she instantly attempted to punch his face with her free hand. Iga managed to catch her punch once again with his left hand; and Claris, despite her better judgement, felt hopeful once again as she felt him tighten his grip on her fists and pull her closer to him.

"That was pretty rude, you know." Iga taunted her, preparing to be kick or headbutted as soon as he brought her closer, "I was busy trying to answer your question!"

"Then get to the point!" She replied in immense frustration before trying to knee Iga in his side, just as he expected; and he quickly put a knee in between her and his stomach, successfully blocking her attack.

"Alright, jeez!" He teased her before explaining his amusement, "If you gotta know, I'm laughing at you because I can tell that you don't want to be doing this."

Claris replied to his statement first by trying to rend her hands free of his grip, but Iga's hold on her was firm; so she quickly tried a second time, aiming to headbutt him when he pulled her back.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She shouted angrily as she attempted her attack, but Iga was prepared once again, and he easily kept his head at a safe distance.

"Yeah?" Iga retorted, tightening his grip on her in an attempt to keep her to stay still and listen, "Then why are we doing this whole song and dance right now? Because if getting me to fight was just for your entertainment, you'd have decided you were wasting your time a long time ago; and you would have just killed me.

"But you haven't." He pointed out the obvious while giving her his signature smirk, "And I think it's 'cause you want me to make this easy for you; you'll feel better about killing me if it's while I'm trying to hurt you.

"And I know why…" He teased her next, "But you're gonna have to ask me nicely if you want me to point it out for you."

"Then you've clearly misread the situation," Claris quipped defiantly, "Because when I want something, I don't ask for it."

She suddenly flared her energy, creating enough force to knock the weakened Iga off balance and she used the opportunity to quickly spin their bodies until her hands slipped from his grip as he went tumbling aside; but he redirected his momentum upward off the edge of the crater her newest energy attack created.

"And for the record," She added before aiming a palm at him and firing another ki blast as she yelled, "I don't care about what you know!"

Iga managed to right himself midair just before she launched the next attack, and he shielded himself with both arms and some of his own ki. He found he was not strong enough to redirect the blast like he hoped, so instead he held his guard until it detonated and hoped for the best. Unfortunately for Iga, he did not expect Claris to appear directly behind him, in front of her own attack; and he was unable to stop her when she used her right hand to forcefully slam his face into her energy attack before letting it explode.

Letting her prey fall to the earth through the clearing smoke, Claris slowly landed on the edge of a small crater while she watched Iga hit the bottom of one of the larger craters in front of her. Walking towards the rim of the crater Iga was in, Claris noticed with some disappointment that her target appeared to be unconscious.

"Well, you were right about one thing." She confessed, walking down into the crater as she did, "This is hard for me. I hate killing, always have. And y-"

Iga began to stir as she drew near, and she quickly went quiet as soon as she saw him move; but Iga did not attempt to stand up, instead he merely turned onto his side until he was looking at her. And upon seeing his face, Claris could tell he was in some sort of stupor.

"Ves…?" He asked her in shock, "H-… how are you… here?"

Claris stood over him, watching and listening to him as he struggled to sit up.

"I don't understand… Edo killed you… I saw it…"

Iga tried to stand next, planting one hand on the ground before planting his feet; but his hand slipped, causing him to fall face first into the dirt.

"I'm sorry…" He whimpered, not bothering to push himself back up yet, "I failed you."

Claris sighed impatiently, trying not to feel sorry for him as she reached down to lift him by the throat once more; but she for some reason, she stopped when she saw him wipe tears from his eyes before trying to stand up.

"Acnologia was right that day." He admitted as he slowly attempted to get his feet under him, "If I had just died when my parents did… everyone's lives would be better. I created the man called Edo, and I'm to blame for every single crime he's committed.

"It's all my fault," He finished as he finally managed to stand, but he was clearly struggling to maintain his balance, "I'm a failure, and I never deserved anyone as good as you…"

Iga tried to slowly reach for Claris' face with his left hand, but she caught him by the wrist with her right hand; and she held him away from her while considering what to do. Iga suddenly shook his head; however, and with one look into his eyes, Claris could see he had finally come to his senses.

"Ngh… My head really hurts." He remarked humorously before realizing he was being held by the Keeper, "Well, this is awkward."

Claris released him with a shove, and he staggered backwards while only just managing to remain standing.

"You done?" She questioned him with clear annoyance.

"I guess." Iga replied with his usual smirk on his face, "I'm just waiting for you to finally answer my question. I did answer yours, after all."

"I did answer your question." She reminded him impatiently, "But you're not going to survive unless you defeat me."

"Then kill me." He said, almost to her surprise, "If I'm right, and you need me to make doing it easier for you; then focus on the fact that I want you to do it."

Claris stared into his eyes for a few seconds, somehow unsure of what to do; and Iga tried to suggest a method for dispatching himself.

"I might be immortal, but my body's not indestructible; as you know. But I don't think I'd be able to recover from total obliteration.

"C'mon, Vesta…" He demanded, and she blinked at the use of the wrong name, "Send me out with a bang."

"That's right." He added when he noticed her hesitation to speak or act, "I know that you're her. I don't know how it happened, but I've seen enough bizarre things in my life; and you somehow becoming one of the Keepers is not something I could honestly consider shocking.

"You always had this air of strength about you, but it wasn't of a physical type like it is now." He continued, stepping closer towards her as he did, "It's like you've just actualized that strength I always saw in you; and it took me a while because you're ki is ridiculously powerful now, but I'd recognize that energy signature anywhere."

Claris stared him down with a confused look on her face, and she did nothing as he stopped barely a foot from her; so he decided to keep driving his point home.

"If the task of being a Keeper requires either killing me or falling in battle, I'd rather I be the one that falls. And I probably shouldn't tell you this, since you're a Keeper and all, but I could never hide anything from you… If I die, I'm pretty sure all of my power will go to Trunks; and I believe that he'll be able to use it way better than I ever could. I know he could beat you, and he might even be able to finish the battle I never could…

"My immortality was never something I wanted, it's a curse to me." He concluded honestly, "So please… free me. End this cycle of nonsense that I've been trapped in."

The two were gravely silent for a moment, and Iga reached for the Keeper's face once more; but this time she did not stop him, causing him to look at her with some surprise before she surprised him further with her response.

"Kiss me." She demanded, seemingly from out of nowhere; and before he could actually comply like he wanted to, she moved forward until she was pressing her lips against his. He quickly deepened the kiss, and he used his free hand to grab her waist and pull her closer; causing her to moan at the feel of his touch.

Just as he was about to halt the kiss to catch some air, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his side; and he opened his eyes in shock to see her left hand was wrist-deep inside his right side, just below his pectoral. He could feel her hand inside his right lung, having neatly divided it in half stopping just before reaching his heart. She slowly withdrew he hand, and Iga saw that the Keeper was crying as she did so; he grinned happily in response.

"I'm sorry, Igneel." The Keeper genuinely apologized, "But there is no other option here. You might recover from a wound like this, but you're about to pass out from lack of air. I'll end you then, when you're hopefully dreaming something nice and pleasant. That's about the only kind of mercy I'm allowed to give."

"Don't be sorry…" He attempted to reassure her, but as soon as her hand was fully removed from his torso, he found it much harder to speak; and he gracelessly fell backwards into a bloody heap on the ground.

"Thank… you…" Were the only words he managed to spit out, with a fair amount of blood as well, before closing his eyes and beginning to fall asleep, grinning his typical grin as his conscious mind went dark once again.

 **Back on Earth…**

Goten and Natsu were exchanging light attacks at each other as they darted around the landscape of the mountain range; and Son Goku could not have been happier about watching his son spar with the pink-haired wizard, mainly because he could see Goten had a smile on his face.

Relieved that bringing Natsu along helped him cheer his son up, the elder Saiyan decided to watch the two since he had never seen Natsu fight before; and when Goten convinced the fire mage to finally use some of his magic, Goku thought the spectacle he witnessed was pretty cool.

Remembering that the only chance he would have to talk about martial arts with his son was right now, Goku casually began to fly closer to the two, though he regretted interrupting an entertaining fight.

"Hey guys, hang on for a second!" He called out as he moved to them, and the two halted their movement with one fist barely inches away from each other's faces while turning to look at him.

"Awww," Natsu whined even though he complied, "Do we gotta?"

"I'm afraid so." Goku said apologetically before giving him some consolation, "But what I'm about to do might make up for that, I promise."

"What's up, Dad?" Goten asked curiously, and Goku smiled eagerly before answering.

"It's been a while since I've trained you, hasn't it?" He recalled aloud, "We were both on lower levels back then, weren't we?"

"Yeah." Goten agreed with his father, "And if you told me back then about all the things we could do now, I don't know if I would have believed you."

"No kidding," Goku remarked in agreement before getting to the point, "Anyway, since it's your birthday and all; I wanted to try giving you a chance to fight me while I use my best technique."

Natsu was intrigued by the suddenly excited look on the demi-Saiyan's face; and Goten asked his father one more question to make sure he was hearing him right.

"Are you saying that you're gonna go Ultra and fight me?" He inquired, feeling hopeful and nervous at the same time, and he almost leapt for joy when he saw his father nod.

"I might take a bit of effort to transform, cause it's still kinda hard to; but I can do it." He stated eagerly before deciding to add a stipulation to their duel, "But let's make this a little more interesting: If you manage to last long enough for me to break a sweat, I'll teach you how to use the Kaio-ken."

"Really?!" Goten exclaimed excitedly, immediately leaping yards away from his father and taking a stance as he began to charge his energy; and he pleaded to get started after Goku nodded once more, "Well come on, let's do this!"

"Alright!" Goku cheered as he began powering up as well, and he briefly gave Natsu an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry I can't offer you the training too, but you'd need to know how to use ki to even be able to understand everything I'd tell you."

"That's okay, pops." Natsu casually forgave him before asking, "But uh, would you mind if I tried to help Goten fight you?"

Goku considered the offer for a second before replying, "I guess you can, if you want. But you'll probably get hurt pretty bad if you do; it's a bit harder for me to hold back when I'm in the form you're about to see."

"I'm not afraid of a little bit of pain, gramps." The fire mage remarked as he moved to stand beside Goten, totally deaf to the danger Goku was trying to prepare him for, "Besides, I've seen you guys' god powers before. I might not be able to beat you alone, but I know Goten and I can together."

"Natsu," Goten finally chimed in, getting the dragon slayer to look at him before he shook his head and said, "The power my dad's about to use is something that's way stronger than the gods.

"Honestly, I doubt we'll even be able to touch him." He admitted while making his best attempt looking confident, "And I'm kinda scared, actually; but I'm excited at the same time…"

"That's my boy!" Goku remarked proudly, knowing exactly what emotions his son was processing; and he eagerly watched Goten transform into Super Saiyan Blue effortlessly.

"Wow, Goten." He complimented, "You've learned to handle that form way faster than I did. Even if you can't beat me here, I'm really proud of how far you've come."

Goten happily returned the smile his father gave him before Goku glanced between his two opponents and said, "Alright guys; it's gonna get hard for me to hold back from here on out, so get ready for this…"

Focusing his energy and charging it up to a certain point, Goku's sudden spike in energy created a round hole in the ground that was at least five feet deep, forcing his opponents to plant their feet and brace against a strong gust at the same time; and Goten and his partner watched as Goku closed his eyes and began to quiet his mind while now levitating above the ground. The air around them soon began to heat up immensely; and after a few seconds, Natsu's jaw dropped in confused awe at the sensation he was feeling.

"Goten," He told his partner with a clearly surprised tone, "This heat… I can feel it! How is that possible?!"

"With my dad," Goten answered, sounding more intimidated than surprised, "Anything's possible."

The Saiyan before suddenly began to glow as a blinding white light enveloped him; and the wind blew wildly once again for a few seconds before the light began to fall apart, looking like a snake's skin as it was shedding until the signature silver hair and eyes of the Ultra Instinct form was revealed and the light had been replaced by the visible distortion the intense heat of his body caused in the air around him. In fact, the heat was so intense around him that it had a very visible air current rising as if he were aflame; and the top half of his dogi literally evaporated, with stray chunks of his orange uwagi and his blue undershirt floating away with the current before soon smoldering into nothingness.

Goku gave his son the coldest and most piercing glare Goten had ever seen his father capable of making; and the demi-Saiyan felt another blended wave of regret and excitement, though he oddly felt relieved when he saw his dad look to Natsu and noticed the dragon slayer seemed to have a similar reaction to Goku's gaze.

"If either of you want to back out of this," The silver Saiyan offered them a final opportunity to opt out, but Goten and Natsu were too off-put by the lack of emotion in his voice to form an immediate response, "Now is your last chance."

Natsu had no idea what their first move should be, and he could see that Goten was desperately trying to form some sort of strategy; but he did not seem to be successful in doing so. The pair exchanged some more nervous expressions before the Salamander had an idea; and he decided to go with it, even if it was a desperate move to start with. He was remembering what Pan said about his ability to dodge any attack; and he wanted to put those words to the test, win or lose.

"If you're not attacking, then I guess you're surrendering." Goku surprisingly taunted them as they tried to form their plans; but Goten guessed the change in attitude came from the transformation, just like the way going super would affect his personality, "It's a shame; but I'm sure I could head by Bulma's and give Vegeta the same chance I'm giving you. I doubt he would chicken out in a situation like this."

Perhaps because he was still ignorant of Goku's nearly limitless strength; or perhaps because he was simply annoyed with being teased, Natsu was the first to muster up the courage to speak.

"Listen here, old timer." He argued back while shaking a fist at the Saiyan, "Don't get cocky just because you're all powered up!"

Turning to his partner and reassuring him confidently, Natsu also began to try subtly explaining his strategy to Goten in the middle of his speech.

"We're members of Fairy Tail, aren't we? We'll do whatever it takes to win! I know a lot of people back there think that all I'm good at is being loud and obnoxious, and I'm always late to the party…"

Goten immediately knew the last sentence he heard was mostly untrue; and he wondered why Natsu said it before realizing the reason after remembering that Goku would not know much, if anything, about the guild.

"But you like that about me, don't you?" Natsu asked rhetorically, and Goten grinned knowingly before they finally took their natural fighting stances.

Goku smirked faintly in response before his emotions quickly faded into focus; and he stood patiently with his arms at his sides, looking almost as if he were merely standing in place with no intention of fighting at all.

"I'll start this off so you can see his speed for yourself," Goten volunteered to his partner; and Natsu nodded before Goten finally launched himself towards his father and trying to land a series of punches and kicks as soon as he was within reach.

Goku effortlessly dodged all his strikes; and Natsu watched what appeared to be the afterimages of Goku's movements as Goten's attacks went through them like parting a fog or mist. He could not believe Goku was this fast; but he was suddenly sure he could move a lot faster.

Without bothering to counter his son's assault, Goku nimbly performed a front-flip with a half-twist; and he landed behind Goten on one leg while directing his circular momentum with into his other leg, kicking the air in the direction of Natsu instead of attacking Goten.

Natsu would have thought the Saiyan just used the air to attack him; and he may very well have, but the force that struck his torso before he could even blink was more solid than any type of magical air the wizard had ever encountered. He felt more like he was just shot with the heaviest of cannonballs; and he was entirely stunned and out of breath, falling to one knee the next instant in shock.

Goten blinked nervously as soon as he spun around to see what happened, and Goku casually faced his son at the same time.

"Natsu!" Goten called out, and he immediately charged his ki to the maximum before trying to attack his father once again; but once again, Goku was easily dodging his son's punches and kicks. Instead of flipping over him this time, Goku literally poked fun at his son before countering; and he poked four different spots across his son's torso, away from vital organs, before he then punched every spot in the order he had touched them.

Goten felt all eight times his father made contact with his body; but the unrealistic speed and intense pain from the punches, which each created loud sonic booms long after they landed, all of it made the counterattack incredibly hard to process.

Natsu looked up just in time to see Goten immediately revert to his normal black hair and stagger backwards in shock; and he knew he had to get the silver Saiyan's attention immediately. Despite being in intense pain, he still had all of his magic power; and he focused it for one desperate attack, deciding for nearly the first time in his life that to win here meant simply landing at least one single blow.

"Hey Goten!" He shouted to his teammate, who was somehow still standing as he recovered his breath, "I found out why I did a little better fighting against your brother than Gajeel did, and it's because I'm part demon!"

Goten glanced towards the dragon slayer as his pink haired partner continued to speak, while Goku stood perfectly still and waited for some kind of attack to come his way.

"I was pissed off when that Edo creep told me," Natsu clenched a fist angrily, "But now, it just means we might be able to catch your dad off guard!"

Goku chuckled, but did nothing as he allowed Natsu to keep encouraging Goten.

"Because after I tap into this curse power that my brother's got hidden inside me, not even I know what's gonna happen!"

Goten was momentarily concerned about the possible hazards that Natsu could be exposing himself to by toying with a power he never used before; but the uncertainty of the Salamander's plan was the whole crux of the plan, so the demi-Saiyan went along with it.

Mustering as much strength as possible, Goten caused his father to smirk for an instant by returning to his Super Saiyan Blue form; but what he did planned to do next, an action inspired by his partner's willingness to go for broke, genuinely surprised the silver Saiyan.

"You know, what, Natsu?" He declared with a mix of desperation, excitement, and fear with what he was about to do, "I'm not gonna know what happens after I try my new trick too!"

Goku's mainly emotionless glare seemed to show interest at his son's words, and Goten decided to explain to his father exactly what he intended to do.

"No offense, Dad, but I've seen you use the Kaio-ken before; and I don't think you need you to teach me it, because I already know how to do it!"

"I don't recommend that," Goku attempted to warn his son, even though his form's empty-mindedness dampened his concern, "You do unfixable damage to your body, or worse if you do it wrong."

"I don't care about that!" Goten protested defiantly, taking the same classic stance his father would whenever he focused his ki as he did, "All I care about is getting strong enough to beat every one of the Keepers, and getting back to Fairy Tail before I lose Wendy for good!"

Both Natsu and Goku blinked in surprise at Goten's raw emotion; and they both silently watched as Goten yelled with intense effort as he began to push his body to its limits.

"Kaio… KEN!"

Goku was quickly, and pleasantly, surprised when his son's blue aura was suddenly blended with the signature bright red of King Kai's technique; but he was nonetheless able to evade the next wave of attacks Goten began to throw at him. The demi-Saiyan rapidly tossed one punch and kick after another until his father did another flip to gain some distance, this time leaping backwards as he did. But instead of counterattacking like the pair of young men assumed he would, Goku spoke once again to his son.

"I'm sorry, Goten." He apologized, and the demi-Saiyan almost lost his focus upon hearing Goku's words, "I didn't realize until now why you didn't want to talk to any of us earlier; but it's because we keep underestimating you, isn't it?"

Goten gave him a look that confirmed his suspicion, and he added more to his apology after seeing it.

"It's strange; but, even though you look almost exactly like me, I can't help but see the mischievous little guy that used to run around causing trouble with his best friend. And we all have to worry about losing control to these insane powers we've achieved, and about the way this kind of power could change you over time; but you, you've never had that had problem. You've always done what you thought was right; and that's something that even I've failed to do a few times. From now on, this fight is nothing more than a test of your true skills. And remember what I tell you here, Goten: you can be the best of us, but it's not your strength that'll make it true -how you follow your heart, like no one else does… That's what will."

Goten felt a slight bit of guilt when he considered his recent treatment of Iga, but his father's words still had their intended effect; and the red aura around him faded as he smiled at his dad before Natsu finally chimed in.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry to break up the father-son moment," He delivered an apology of his own, having come up with a new plan that was, potentially, crazier than the plan he had proposed earlier, "But I'm kinda wondering if this intense heat you're giving off could be considered a type of flame or not…

"I kinda wish Wendy were here with us too, Goten." Natsu informed his ally as he prepared for his risky attempt to win, "Cause she would know if I was about to poison myself or not; and I don't have time to try to figure it out for myself… So here goes nothing!"

Goten quickly figured out Natsu's plan, and he tried to convince him not to go through with it; but the Salamander began to inhale deeply. Goku was slightly impressed at seeing the air current around himself sharply began to flow towards the pink-haired young man, who seemed to be sucking up the very heat that distorted the air.

The pair of Saiyans watched curiously as Natsu finished consuming as much heat energy as he could; and Goten took a half-step towards his partner in concern when Natsu seemed to be frozen by some mysterious cause, until he saw all the visible muscles on the fire mage's body begin to spasm simultaneously.

Natsu fell to one knee in agony at the intense sense of pain he was feeling throughout his body; and he attempted to stand up despite his lack of control before stumbling forward once again, this time landing on his hands and knees as he struggled to stay conscious and avoid screaming in pain.

After a few seconds, and just as soon as Goten began to seriously doubt they should be continuing the fight, Natsu's body suddenly flashed with a bright white light that was similar to the one from Goku's going Ultra; but instead of dispersing to reveal a kind of transformation, the white light remained as it swirled wildly around the dragon slayer's body like flames in a cyclone.

"I… I- Agh- Ahhhh!" Natsu began to shout primally as he fought through the pain in order to regain control of his body, "I will never give up!"

The next instant, Goten had to shield his eyes from another sudden intensification of Natsu's radiance; and when he was able to finally see his teammate, he could only see Natsu. The white flame the wizard had revolving around him had seemed to have vanished, and the only clothes remaining on the top half of his body was the white scarf tied loosely around his neck; but upon closer inspection, Goten noticed that Natsu's skin had changed into white scales, looking similar to Sting Eucliffe's Dragon Force.

Goten was sure this type of Dragon Force would be much stronger, though; and he watched with immense surprise as Natsu slowly stood up to reveal the lack of color in his eyes, which changed to a solid white that matched the scales on his body. The slayer next made an aggressive stance before yelling once again as he charged his new magic power, with white flames suddenly erupting from him again; and Goten only just managed to keep watching as the brightness of the flames were nearly blinding him.

Goku simply remained patient; however, and he never once removed his gaze from Natsu as the wizard struggled to harness his flames. Deep down, the Saiyan was a little hopeful that this new and mysterious power being displayed would present any kind of a challenge to him; but most of him doubted the likelihood of that. Nonetheless, he waited patiently for Natsu; and he was pleasantly surprised that he did not have to wait very long, seeing Natsu stand and charge his power only after a minute or so. Goku only wished he knew how to sense the magic power inside the young man, because he imagined some dramatic type of transformation just took place and he wondered what kind of effect the change had on his opponent; but he quickly tucked away his curiosity, knowing that he was more than likely about to find out and that he needed to resume his focus on controlling his own current transformation.

Goten was still trying to form figure out what he should do now, slightly feeling like he was just one-upped. That feeling was not his main concern, however, since he also could not tell exactly how strong this new type of magic could be; and after a few seconds of awkward silence, Natsu simply launched himself at Goku -taking nearly both Saiyans by surprise.

The Ultra Saiyan easily side-stepped each wild swipe Natsu made at him, despite an incredible improvement in Natsu's speed. It looked like the wizard was now trying to slash Goku with claws rather than punch him; and Goten watched as white flames streaked from Natsu's hands and arms like the exhaust of a jet engine leaving streaks in the sky, now finally realizing the dramatic change in his partner's abilities.

Goku dodged a couple more of Natsu's slashing attacks before finally deciding to move away from him; and the Saiyan went to leap away as he had twice before against Goten, but Natsu was expecting this. As soon as Goku moved to plant his feet and leap backwards, Goten saw white flames burst from Natsu's back and legs; and the Salamander fired forward like a rocket just before Goku could plant his feet, this time surprising even Goku with his insane speed as he tried to grab or slash him.

Goku twisted his body away at the last possible instant, knowing that Natsu would have been able to grab his shirt if it would have been there -which could have led to a possibly-successful attack on the wizard's part; and Goku decided to counterattack, feeling that he might actually find some kind competition with Natsu.

Goten watched in awe as his father spun around Natsu before putting his momentum in a kick that was aimed for the center of the wizard's back; but both Saiyans were once again surprised to see flames burst from Natsu's feet before he back-flipped over Goku's leg. And before Goku could add a follow-up attack, Natsu suddenly shot out white fire in all directions. Goku easily got his arms and legs in front of the flames before using his energy to shield himself; but Goten realized the window of opportunity his partner's attack was creating, and he jumped towards his father with a shout just as Goku tried fending off Natsu's flames.

"Kaio-ken times five!"

Firing forward like a red and blue bullet, Goten tried to hit his father's back with his strongest punch possible; but Goku was once again able to defend successfully, this time catching Goten's fist with his right hand while maintaining the energy barrier between himself and Natsu with his left hand. Before his flames dissipated, Natsu launched himself forward once again despite the fact that he was mid-air; and Goku quickly flipped forward, with his hair barely brushing the ground as he did, aiming at foot at Natsu's chest just after his head went under the wizard's fist while still holding onto his son's fist. Not having the strength to halt their spinning, Goten reluctantly moved with his dad before Natsu was sent flying aside by Goku's kick; and the demi-Saiyan tried punching his father with his free hand while using his trapped arm to pull his opponent closer. Goku released Goten as soon as he realized what was happening, botching the demi-Saiyan's delivery of the attack; and Goten punched too early as he hit the air just to the right of his father's torso. The next instant, Goku grabbed the front of his son's uwagi before moving to throw him towards where Natsu should have been; but the Ultra Saiyan soon realized that the wizard had landed smoothly after being kicked aside when Natsu roared angrily and caused Goku to redirect where he tossed Goten before having to shield himself from a massive linear blast of white flame that shot out of Natsu's mouth.

The flames overlapped Goku's energy barrier, but Goten did not wait to see where his father was before regaining control of his flight and launching into the fire, knowing that Goku would not expect him to hurt himself just to land an attack. His effort was still in vain, however, as Goku felt Goten's attack coming as soon as they were near one another; and the elder Saiyan once again easily evaded another series of punches and kicks while the sheer force of the air moving around them dispersed Natsu's flames. Natsu instinctively joined in on the flurry as soon as he could see the pair; but it seemed to make no difference to Goku, as he continued to dodge both young men's attacks with apparent ease. And after a few seconds of evading, Goku finally attacked once again by trying to land punches on Goten and Natsu; but he only managed to strike the former of the pair as the latter somehow dodged him.

Goten lost his red and blue aura again as he recoiled in intense pain from the three punches his father hit him with; but Natsu continued the heated exchange with Goku as neither seemed able to hit the other. The two struggled for a few seconds before Goten was one again trying to recover, but the pain and lack of energy in his body was way beyond his usually tolerance point; and he only managed to summon his Super Saiyan Blue power for a second before it flickered away.

"Dammit…" He swore as Natsu and Goku danced around each other with fluid grace, barely ever touching the ground when he was watching them; and Goten once again tried to transform, this time successfully. As he relieved as he was, he knew he had to focus on controlling what was left of his ki during whatever move he would attempt next; so he gave the pair in front of him another couple seconds before rushing back into the fray, punching with one hand and kicking while charging his ki and chanting aloud.

"Ka…"

Goku immediately recognized his signature attack, but he was slightly hindered by having to avoid Natsu already; so he only managed to land a kick on his son's side instead of reaching the hand that Goten was preparing the ki wave in. Goten was knocked back in great pain, but he refused to go down after one kick; and he managed to keep control of his energy as he dug a one inch trench with his heels while sliding away from the two.

"Me…"

Natsu recognized the familiar call-out as well, and he immediately knew he had to protect Goten until he was ready to fire the finishing blast; so he did his best to intensify his speed before leaping away from the silver Saiyan with a spin to left, slashing the air as did to create a spiral of flame in all directions.

"Ha…"

Goku wanted to go after Goten as soon as Natsu leapt away, but the radiant white flames flying for him seemed like they could do some damage to him; and he prioritized shielding himself from the fire once again while still trying to interfere with Goten's focus, using his left hand to hold back Natsu's attack while punching the air in the direction of Goten with a right-handed palm strike. Goten quickly braced himself and barely remained standing when the air current his father created hit him like a bullet train going full tilt.

"Me…" He managed to sputter out, but Goku could tell he was faltering.

Before the elder Saiyan could go after his son, however, Natsu had landed and halted his spinning; and the wizard launched through his clearing flames once more, restarting his attempt to land a physical attack on Goku. The Saiyan was still just as fast as ever, though; and the pair were returning to their graceful dance when Goku suddenly realized the solution to his minor dilemma.

He could tell Goten was waiting for an opportunity to attack, so Natsu did his best to keep his opponent in one place; but neither he nor Goku appeared to have an advantage over each other speed-wise, causing the Salamander to realize that he had to use his magic to contain the Saiyan. Taking a half-step back before clapping both of his hands together in front of himself with white flames erupting from his arms as he did, two long and massive walls of fire quickly grew from the wizard's arms and closed in on Goku's flanks, forcing the Saiyan to use two hands to create a ki barrier on both sides.

Goten finally saw his chance, and he fired his ki wave immediately into the tunnel of fire that held his target in the center.

HA!"

But Goten wasn't satisfied with simply firing a Kamehameha, so he added one more burst to his attack at the last second while screaming as a familiar red aura erupted from him and flowed into the ki wave.

"TIMES TEN!"

And not to be undone by Goten's addition burst of strength, Natsu leapt towards Goku at full speed with white flames burning around his right-handed punch. The next instant, both of the young men were more than pleasantly surprised when their attacks connected. Natsu's punch hit Goku square in the sternum while Goten's ki blast struck Goku's whole back; and both attacks detonated upon impact to create a blue and white explosion that shook the earth and shattered the ground below them, creating a crater below them that was at least twenty yards deep.

Little did they know, Goku's solution to ending the fight included ignoring his pride and intentionally being hit by their attacks, as he knew he would likely withstand Goten's attack with ease; but he was curious about exactly how strong Natsu could be right now, having already seen his great increase in speed and agility.

Both Goten and Natsu were grinning proudly as the smoke cleared; but Natsu's pride quickly faded when the smoke cleared, although Goten was too exhausted to look. The demi-Saiyan collapsed forward and fell into the outer rim of the crater with one ankle still resting on the edge; but Natsu, despite panting from clear exhaustion, was still floating before Goku, who was shockingly revealed to be totally unaffected by both attacks. The dragon slayer could not believe his attack had been shrugged off so easily; and he instantly realized how futile any future efforts to fight would be, especially now that his only source of support was unconscious.

"So that was your problem…" Goku realized what had happened out loud, and Natsu's attention snapped to the Saiyan as he spoke.

"Your new power seems to have some similarities with mine, but I wasn't sure how similar it was until now.

"You have no problem dodging attacks; but you're finding it hard to put your full power into your attacks, aren't you?"

Natsu silently made eye contact with the Saiyan before nodding, and with his mute reply confirming Goku's suspicions, the Saiyan continued to make his point.

"You haven't learned how to attack without thinking about it. Confronted by my power, you believed you had no choice but to think and plan out your way to win. If you had simply focused on remembering that your power, no matter what type it is, is all a part of you; and that it will do what you want when you want it to… maybe then you might have had enough strength to do some damage. Goten would have been smart enough to improvise and follow your lead; but instead you let him take charge despite the fact that you had a better sense of perception than he did. You could have been calling the shots if you had just followed your instincts, and like I told my son… Your heart is what'll help you get to this level of power; all you've got to do is follow that, and you'll barely even notice how strong you get along the way."

Natsu listened to the Saiyan's advice intently; and he stood perfectly still, hovering before Goku while he processed a wide range of emotions that ran through his mind. The silver Saiyan took advantage of Natsu's lack of focus; and before the dragon slayer could even see the attack coming, Goku drove his right fist into Natsu's forehead with half of his full power.

The shockwave of the punch blew the air away from them just as the force of the punch sent Natsu flying away backwards until he crashed into a giant boulder nearly two hundred yards away; and the rocks and debris created by the crash piled onto the wizard before settling along with the dirt and dust in the air, with the only disturbance in it being Gou as he flew over to examine his opponent.

Clearing the debris with ease, Goku was relieved to see his opponent was alive but unconscious; and he promptly reached into the wreckage before pulling Natsu out the debris by his scarf, making a mental note to ask how the scarf was not incinerated later as he did.

"That's a relief." The Saiyan remarked honestly as he picked Natsu up with both arms and flew back to Goten's unconscious body with the wizard, "I was starting to hit my time-limit with this form…"

He dumped the wizard next to Goten as he landed, inspecting their physical conditions before chuckling as he thought aloud.

"It's actually a shame," He confessed with great amusement, "Since I'm probably going to recover from this before you recover from what I did to you, you're probably going to kick yourselves when you finally do learn it; but…

"This fight could very easily have been a draw."

A familiar feeling of pain and muscle spasming overtook Goku as purple sparks raced across his skin; and Goku immediately returned to his normal form before falling over as the violet energy randomly blanketed their surroundings, vaporizing smaller rocks and a few insects in the process. The wild purple energy finally receded, and Goku lay on the ground panting as steam rose from every inch of skin from his rapid cooling down.

That was when Gohan appeared standing over the trio, having decided to investigate as soon as he knew he would not be interrupting their fight; and he immediately shook his head and sighed at the sight.

"I had a feeling you guys were going to go over-board," He remarked with sad amusement, "But I didn't think you would go this far over."

"Heh." He surprisingly heard his father say, and he noticed that Goku was twitching as he tried to stand up while speaking; so Gohan hurriedly helped his father up.

"Thanks." Goku said weakly before actually replying to Gohan's remark.

"It's my fault that fight went as far as it did." He admitted thoughtfully, "I underestimated both of them. I can't really speak for his friend, but Goten's grown into an extremely powerful young man; and I only just realized it now."

"I agree." Gohan said with a nod before adding, "And Natsu is a tough nut to crack even without all the magic power he has, so I don't blame you for anything crazy that happens with him around."

Goku felt some relief upon hearing that, having felt a little guilty about the last punch he hit Natsu with; and he smiled weakly before making a request to his eldest son.

"Hey, Gohan, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Dad." Gohan replied without hesitation, "What is it?"

"I'm gonna take a nap now…" He revealed with a weak grin before finally asking, "But can you tell them that I didn't pass out after the fight, if they ever ask?"

"Sure, Dad." Gohan agreed, silently guessing at a few possible good reasons Goku would have for making the white lie as he spoke, "I just hope you guys recover before our little party tonight."

"We will... And thanks, son." Goku gratefully put a hand on his son's shoulder, though he put more of his weight on Gohan than he meant to; and he said only one more thing before falling asleep in his son's arms:

"I'm really glad you're back with us…"

 **Back on Earthland…**

As soon as she could tell that Iga was unconscious, the Keeper of Light raised one hand above her head and created a massive sphere of energy. She knew she had to be quick if she wished to avoid any witnesses, thinking of the Lamia Scale wizards and a few others that could potentially get in her way.

Her eyes changed to their solid white appearance once more as she charged more energy into the blast; but when it was ready to be fired, she aimed it way off to the side while using her magic for another purpose.

The resulting explosion sent Iga's body flying into the air; and without wasting a single second, she leapt after him, grabbing him with one arm around his waist before quickly creating a portal that they both flew through before it rapidly shut and vanished behind them.

 **Two months later on Earthland, on a road near the edge of a village to the south of Crocus…**

Wendy Marvell sighed as she relaxed under her best friend's touch, feeling much better from the shoulder massage Romeo Conbolt was giving her. The two were sitting across from the door of the carriage, having sat sideways and cross-legged on the seat so Romeo could be behind her.

"Mm… you're getting really good at this." She complimented him as she ignored their wagon's rocking, focusing only on the sensations of her friend's touch.

"Sure am." Romeo replied confidently before adding honestly, "But I think the main reason this works is because you're getting stronger."

"I'd like to think that." Wendy remarked honestly before Romeo gently squeezed the right side of her neck.

"You don't have to think it." He told her reassuringly as she shifted in her seat, moving slightly closer to him as he continued to speak, "You just gotta know it –like I do."

Wendy put her right hand atop his as it held the side of her neck, and she smiled happily before she replied to him.

"I'm just glad I'm almost free of those darn lacrima." She said half-jokingly before adding, "Sherria told me what the next payment was going to be, and I…"

Romeo's brow furrowed as Wendy trailed off.

"And you what?" Romeo asked curiously, "What was the payment?"

"Don't worry about it." Wendy waved her left hand a few times dismissively as Romeo stopped rubbing her shoulders, "Just… just worry about this."

"I may not see your face, Wendy," Romeo stated as he held off on touching Wendy for the moment, "But I can tell your face is probably pretty red right now."

"The payment wasn't a big deal." The Sky Maiden lied before pleading, "Romeo, I'm starting to feel sick again. Please…"

"Okay." Romeo nodded, putting his hands gently on his friend once again and touching her for a moment before pausing with a thought and a smirk on his face, "But you won't get the five star treatment until you tell me what's going on."

"Come on, Romeo." She begged as he teasingly moved an index finger across her right shoulder blade, just along the top of her red tube top that the fire mage had to avoid appreciating too much, "Can we please talk about something else?"

"Alright, alright." He gave in humorously, "Jeez, forgive me for wanting to know what kind of trouble my partner's getting into…"

Wendy turned her head to the left to let Romeo see her serious expression, and he felt the muscles in her shoulders tense to highlight her impatience.

"Point taken." He said quickly, squeezing her shoulders lightly to calm her, "So what would you like to talk about?"

"Hm. Well, you haven't told me how you convinced Charle into staying at Fairy Tail for this job." She reminded him.

"I told you how." Romeo replied jokingly, "We both agreed I was amazing, right?"

"Of course we did." Wendy agreed with a hint of sarcasm before adding seriously, "But you must have offered Charle something important."

"Maybe Charle just trusts me." Romeo suggested, "And it's not like I messed anything up recently, either."

"True." Wendy conceded before continuing to show her curiosity, "But I know you still had to do some convincing, this is Charle we're talking about."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it." Romeo replied, grinning as Wendy realized what he was doing, "It wasn't a big deal, after all."

"I'm not going to tell you about Sherria's request." She insisted to her partner, also trying to avoid showing her enjoyment of Romeo's massaging as they debated.

"And I'm not going to tell you what I said to Charle." He insisted before changing tactic, "And don't think I'm trying to force a negotiation here, 'cause I don't really care about girl talk. A simple guy like me is happy enough with just getting to be here."

A hint of red and a small surge of heat ran over Wendy; and with her right hand she began to nervously play with the edge of her black shorts' right leg, which was just above her knee.

"You shouldn't talk like that, Romeo." She said bashfully, looking at her pants as she spoke.

"What? Honestly?" He questioned intently, "I'm sorry, but I don't function properly when I can't speak my mind."

Wendy was quiet as she tried to think of a rebuttal that would not sound hurtful, but Romeo was not finished speaking.

"I know I was kind of a jerk trying to talk about it last time, but…" Romeo continued until she cut him off.

"Not now…" She begged him, but he was getting slightly irritated about the subject he was trying to discuss with her.

"Then when, Wendy?" He asked, showing his irritation by releasing his friend, "When are we ever going to talk about it?"

"Not before a job." She answered with surety, "I need to stay focused."

"But that's why I want to talk about it." Romeo explained, "I can't focus when I'm worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about." Wendy insisted.

"Even if I believed that," He remarked thoughtfully, "I'm smart enough to not feel fully reassured by just hearing that. All I want is to hear what you're actually thinking, Wendy."

Wendy's expression softened at his words, and he fought off the strong urge to try to hold her more intimately.

"It's not that simple, Romeo." Wendy stated openly, "I mean, I made promises to him..."

"And he's gone, Wendy." Romeo quipped, "I think you've done way more than enough to prove your promises to him were genuine; but I don't think it's right that you've been pushing aside what you want just because you feel afraid or guilty.

"Are those promises why you had a panic attack last week?" He asked pointedly, trying to avoid feeling embarrassed as he added, "You know, the one that happened just before we ki-"

"That wasn't a panic attack." She tried to hide the truth again, though she was finding it hard to do so, "I was just nervous…"

"You know I won't stop pestering you until I get the truth, Wendy." He stated boldly, "I think I deserve that."

"I don't know what the truth is, Romeo." She tried to explain. Romeo noticed the genuinely honest tone in her voice, and he suddenly felt guilty for being pushy.

"I'm sorry." He quickly apologized, adding nervously, "I'll shut up if you want me to."

Wendy shook her head lightly before she replied to him.

"No," She told him reassuringly, pleasantly surprising Romeo as she also placed her right hand on his, "I'm not going to tell someone to shut up when they're trying to help, and I know this whole thing is unfair to you. I mean, I don't even think you should be apologizing for what happened last week. I know how you feel about me, and you were right the other night when you said that I had made the first move. This whole scenario is my fault, and I should have made sure I was ready before trying anything like that again."

Romeo felt her squeeze his hand slightly, struggling to keep massaging her as he dealt with a series of emotions while she continued to speak.

"I'm not going to tell you to be quiet because… because I want to hear your thoughts too. I need to hear them." She sighed before adding, secretly glad he could not see her embarrassed expression, "What you say matters to me a lot; and I'm not going to complain about someone caring for me, especially when they're right. I did want to kiss you then -like I did two months ago- and I… um… I still do; but…"

Romeo's body suddenly began heating up at her words, getting both intensely nervous and excited at the same time as she got past her own nerves and continued her confession, "But when, you know..."

"When I think about last week, or just about being with you in general…" She finished with a sad tone as she looked at the seat cushion in front of her, trying to hide the fact that she was holding back tears, "I begin to remember him; and just recently, I've been thinking way too much about him to be considered healthy. We were still kids back then, but I really was in love with him; and all this stuff is reminding me of things I tried to just bury and forget… it's the stuff that also makes me not want to risk that kind of pain again, because I'm tired of feeling it. Grandeeney, Mystogan, Cait Sith, Goten… "

"And a few times, I've had this dream where he never died; and the setting changes, but it always ends the same… I could talk to him all I wanted; but as soon as I would try to touch him, Edo would appear from nowhere and… and…"

Wendy stopped talking when Romeo suddenly stopped massaging her and removed his hands, realizing he had stopped because he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"You don't have to say anymore; I understand completely." He told her caringly, "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"No, I do." She insisted with a hint of force, "You do deserve the truth, like you said; and the truth is that none of this is your fault.

"And the truth is also that I'd be lying if I said there was nothing between us." She finished nervously, "I do have feelings for you too, and I think I really do want to be with you; but I'm just not ready. I know that's probably not entirely what you want to hear, but-"

"Wendy, look at me." Romeo interrupted her, speaking again only after she slowly turned in her seat to face him, "Wendy… this is exactly what I needed to hear."

He almost did not get past his second sentence, having noticed that Wendy was crying as she spoke; and the pain from the image was almost crippling as he realized exactly how difficult the current situation was for her. Instantly feeling the urge to comfort her, Romeo tentatively reached his right hand out and gently squeezed the top of her left shoulder before he continued to speak.

"I never expected this was going to be a very cheerful conversation, and I definitely didn't think you were going to admit your feelings for me… I just wanted to understand, you know, to see if there was any way I could help you. I don't want you to say something just to make me happy, Wendy; I want you to say what you're really thinking…"

Wendy focused on listening to him as she rubbed the water out of her eyes before meeting his gaze as he finished his statement.

"All I'm trying to say is that I want you to be happy, because that's what will make me happy;" He momentarily tightened his grip slightly as his voice changed to an even more serious tone than it had from the beginning of his explanation, "And I promise that I won't bring any of this relationship stuff up unless you ask me to; we can treat this like everything else we do together: I'll just follow your lead."

Wendy giggled lightly at the last part of his oath before touching the top of his right hand with her left, squeezing it gently as she read the honest and caring expression on his face. She was trying to decide on a good response to what he had said; and Romeo was becoming slightly nervous as she was slow to respond. He was about to ask her if she was alright when she suddenly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him to her.

"Thank you, Romeo." She said quietly, her breath slightly tickling his right ear as she spoke, "Thank you for understanding."

Romeo had been slightly surprised by the sudden embrace; but after he listened to her words, he slowly returned the hug as a joyful smile stretched across his lips. They said nothing else as they held each other for a few more seconds until Wendy slowly pulled back and unwrapped her arms from around his neck.

"And one other thing, since we're making promises now." Wendy concluded the conversation with a faint smile that Romeo was overjoyed to see, "When I finally deal with everything that's been making me feel so confused lately, I promise that you'll be the first to know."

 **At the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…**

Gray Fullbuster sat at the bar by himself awkwardly while he was waiting for his companion, feeling a little exposed since he usually sat in the background when he was alone; but Mirajane, who was busy polishing a section of the bar that needed work, suddenly broke his silent train of thought.

"Waiting for Juvia, Gray?" She asked curiously, and the ice mage looked to her before answering.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, no reason." She replied cryptically, which was a habit of hers that he really did not like; but he ignored his irritation as she changed the subject, "You haven't spoken to Master yet, have you?"

"Nope." Gray informed her before wondering, "How did you know that he summoned me and Juvia? He sent me a personal message that told me to come here."

"I wrote it for him, silly." She revealed teasingly; and she finished her work before looking up to him and adding, "And I know exactly what he wants to talk to you about."

Gray was unsure why, but he felt slightly intimidated by what she said; and he quickly realized why when he closely examined the knowing look she was giving him.

"Wait… You kno-" He said with realization, thinking of his main reason to be concerned, but she shook her head and interrupted him.

"Don't worry, Gray," She quickly reassured him, "I knew way before anyone else did, and I didn't say anything; so I actually can't be mad at you."

"Anyone else?" Gray repeated with the faintest hint of nervousness in his tone, "Who else knows about-"

"Only me, Master, first Master, Lucy, Jellal, Sting, and Orga." She promptly listed before he could finish speaking once again, "They found out not long after you helped catch Orga. Master Makarov made them all swear to keep it secret because we need the guild to focus on one threat at a time, but we're also hoping the others will find some way back to us."

Before Gray could ask Mirajane any more about the subject, the pair suddenly heard the entrance to the guild open and Juvia calling out simultaneously.

"I'm here Gray, my love!" The water mage announced as she waltzed into the guild hall, and she clapped her hands together once with joyous realization of one fact that should have been obvious, "Oh… so you did wait for me! I'm so happy!"

Gray shook his head in amused embarrassment before Juvia jogged through the entryway staircase and the dining area until she was hugging Gray from behind with her arms wrapped around his neck, slightly surprised Gray was letting her get so close in public yet feeling no impulse to point it out. Unfortunately for her, Mirajane did feel the need to; however.

"My, my," She remarked teasingly, "You two seem pretty comfortable around each other…"

"Calm down." Gray told her dismissively, though he made no indication that he wished for Juvia to release him, "The only thing that happened between us is that we came to an understanding "

"Oh?" the takeover mage said with intrigue, and Juvia decided to elaborate.

"What Gray-darling means is that we've finally acknowledged our similar feelings for each other; but we also agreed that we should worry about defeating Zeref and Edo before we worry about trying to have a life together."

That time, Gray actually did seem uncomfortable with how much information his unofficial girlfriend was revealing; but he still allowed Juvia to cling to him despite the fact that she was currently embarrassing him.

"I see." Mira remarked thoughtfully before a mischievous look crossed her face and thinking aloud, "I bet this 'understanding' helps make sleeping arrangements pretty simple, doesn't it? Cheaper for hotels when you're out on jobs together, too…"

"And this is where this conversation ends." Gray told the bartender seriously before standing up, with Juvia releasing him as he did only to wrap an arm around one of his; and he asked Mirajane one more question before being able to go where he needed to.

"Is the old man downstairs with First Master, or is he out somewhere in Magnolia right now?"

"Neither." The trio heard the Fairy Tail guild master answer from their left; and they saw Makarov was just reaching the bottom of the stairs by the nearest restroom, which led to the S-class floor.

"Good afternoon, Master." Juvia greeted the older man cheerily, but her bright attitude slightly dimmed when she noticed that Gray was clearly not as excited to see their guild master.

"Darling?" She asked with some worry, especially after seeing a similarly somber expression on Makarov's face as the two men looked at each other, "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, Juvia." Makarov assured her as he stopped at the top of the couple of stairs before the dining area, but the unpleasant expression on Gray's face still caused her to doubt the statement before, "But perhaps we should move this conversation to a different room, yes?"

Gray nodded in agreement, and Makarov turned to Mirajane before giving her some instructions.

"If anyone needs me in the next few minutes, send them to the data room; and if its not too inconvenient, have someone bring some food in after us. I've been so busy playing host to our guest that I forgot to get some lunch for myself."

Mirajane nodded and smiled, "Sure thing, Master. Do you have any preference on what you want for lunch?"

"Not particularly. Dealer's choice is good enough for today." He replied before offering Gray and Juvia some lunch as well.

"No thanks, Gramps." The ice mage answered first while Juvia decided to go along with her boyfriend's choice, "We'll grab something to eat after we talk."

"As you wish." Makarov remarked before leading the two behind the bar and to their right, past the doors to the kitchen and resting room before finally entering the data storage room.

As soon as the door was closed behind all three of them, Juvia started the conversation.

"May I ask what this is about, Master?" She wondered while still a little nervous.

"You may," Makarov responded casually as he moved to take a seat at the rectangular table in the center of the room, "But I'm sure you might prefer it if Gray explained why we're here."

"It's because I've been lying to the guild, right?" The ice mage cut to the chase, not bothering to sit down until he knew was in the room to do more than just defend his actions, "And you want to know if I might have any information that could help against Edo, don't you?"

Makarov nodded to both questions, and Juvia quickly realized why her beloved was so nervous earlier as she listened to them. After all, she remembered what Gray said to her two months ago about the severity of his deception; and Makarov quickly noticed, thanks to Juvia's expression, a fact that slightly surprised him.

"You clearly haven't told her yet," the guild master pointed out to Gray curiously, "But she does know you've been hiding something, too?"

"Master, Gray has told me he's been keeping some very serious information from us." Juvia admitted, standing by the ice mage figuratively and literally as she still held onto his arm while speaking, "But my love only did so in order to save me, Master. If there's anyone that should bear the guilt of his lies, it's me; because I got captured in the first place. If there are any punishments you have for his misdeeds, I will gladly accept them in his-"

"Quit it, Juvia." Gray interrupted her with a hint of force in his tone, "You are not going to take the heat for me; and I'm not going to apologize for saving a member of our guild."

The pair quietly waited for what their guild master was going to say, but Gray was a little worried he was too blunt towards the end of his sentence; and that nervousness slowly grew inside him until Makarov stopped staring at them and finally said something.

"First of all, I want you two to never forget to appreciate that kind of loyalty you have for each other," The elder wizard finally replied by instructing them with a serious tone, "Because that right there is the selfless kind, the one that you can never truly reward someone for. At least, not intentionally anyway."

Gray was a little more nervous at the mention of ideas like loyalty and payment, wondering if his master was speaking with more than one meaning; so he finally sat across from Makarov with Juvia releasing him and taking a seat to his left. Gray was thinking that even if this conversation were to go the worst way he imagined it could, he did not want to look weak in front of Juvia no matter what transpired; and Juvia was also preparing for the worst as well, though her vivid imagination suddenly helped turn the worst possible outcome into potentially the very best outcome for her.

 _If Gray-sama gets exiled from Fairy Tail, I could go with him,_ She thought to herself as she was now lost in her thoughts, making a few leaps of logic while ignoring some other important factors as she did, _And we could actually live together again, without having to worry about all these guild wars…_

"But despite what you two may think," Makarov said to suddenly bring Juvia back to reality, "We are not here to scold you for past indiscretions."

Gray gave a sigh of relief while Juvia was busy scolding herself internally for actually starting to feel hopeful.

"After all," Makarov added, "It would be ridiculous to punish you for committing the very same deception that I myself have committed, and I plan to keep the lie going for a little longer, too."

"Mirajane told me that much." Gray informed his master and partner before adding a deduction of his own, "And it seems like you're hoping our friends from Earth will resolve this dilemma with Edo before we have to deal with it."

"It's weak of me, but yes." Makarov acknowledged the cowardly facet of his plans, "In this case, I know the guild is only strong enough to handle one major threat at the time; and adding a war with Edo on top of our current cold war with Zeref would likely be the end of us, with our failure being guaranteed if we reignite both conflicts without the aid of our Earthling guildmates."

By this point, Juvia had figured out what secrets the two had been keeping; but she needed to hear someone say it aloud before she could actually believe it.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Master; but it sounds like you and Gray are talking about Gohan and his family…"

"Because we are." Gray interjected, not feeling deserving enough to look Juvia in the eye as he finally revealed his secret to her, "On the day that they went home, Edo offered me the deal to save you in return for my help with faking their deaths."

"I see…" Juvia replied absently as she was mostly thinking than talking; and Gray was busy processing the feeling of having a weight lifted off his shoulders while also worrying over what his partner was thinking about.

"I'm sorry, Juvia." Gray did feel the need to apologize to her for his actions, though, "I remember you mentioning your guilt about what happened with them a few times; and I never told you something that could've helped you forgive yourself…"

Makarov was quiet as he decided it was best to not interrupt the couple's conversation; and Juvia was also quiet for only a moment longer before she finally said something, though she first comfortingly grabbed Gray's left hand -which was resting on the edge of the table- with both of hers before doing so.

"Gray, my love, we've discussed this already; it doesn't matter what the lie was… I already forgave you for it, remember?"

"Juvia…" Gray ignored the watery sensation in his eyes as he tried his best to be grateful without losing his composure in front of Makarov, "Thank you…"

Makarov let the duo exchange happy expressions before finally getting them back on topic.

"And now that that's out of the way," He said after clearing his throat to regain their attention, "We can return to discussing my plans for your next job. As far as I can tell, our current stand off between both the Alvarez Empire and Edo's God Slayers is a powder keg that's one spark away from igniting; and while our battle with Zeref could resume at any point, I believe that our battle with Edo will only begin again once Gohan, his family, and Trunks return. All the information we have gathered about him suggests his sole motivation is to completely defeat and humiliate Gohan."

"So, keeping the fact that they're alive hidden ensures that no one tries to bring Gohan back too soon." Gray observed aloud while giving Makarov a chance to catch his breath in the process, "And delaying that also means delaying our fight with Edo…"

"Precisely." Makarov confirmed before continuing, "But no matter how it happens, and it will happen; we need to be prepared both for our friends' returning and for the beginning of both conflicts. With the help of the other guilds in Fiore, I'm confident we can overcome the challenge of Zeref and Acnologia; but Edo's powers contain something that's beyond magic. To rid the world of him once and for all, we are going to need at least Gohan's help."

"And what do you wish for us to do, Master?" Juvia questioned respectfully, though she was unsure if she would even be able to provide something helpful to any of the situations they were discussing.

"You two, my dear Juvia," Makarov answered her promptly, "Are first going to make amends with some of your guildmates and allies that are also in on our little secret, specifically there's one person you should speak with at the least; and once that's done, your actual assignment will be helping Mirajane and Lucy find out if there is some way that we can get to them."

"Is this why Orga has been living in our S-Class area for the past two months?" Gray realized another fact aloud, and Makarov nodded before explaining.

"Sting asked us to shelter him until we were sure Orga would be safe, but I also traded our kindness for information on Edo. And thanks to our Sky Maiden and Sting's efforts, we were able to free Orga before Edo's magic wiped all his memories of his time with the man."

Gray felt Juvia's grip on his hand tighten nervously, and he remembered to speak with her later about the topic before continuing to listen to their guild master.

"It turns out that Orga was a wellspring of information, one we aim to take full advantage of."

Before the three could continue conversing, they heard the door open before they turned to see Lucy and Mirajane walking in.

"Good afternoon, Master Makarov." The blonde wizard greeted as she moved to sit next to Juvia while Mirajane picked a seat to Makarov's right, "Mira said you need me for something?"

"I do indeed." The Wizard Saint confirmed before giving Gray a look and adding, "But before we get to what I need, you should hear what your friends next to you have to say."

"I'm sorry I lied about losing our friends, Lucy." The ice mage quickly apologized before adding more seriously, "And I want you to know that I never knew any of Edo's plans, and I definitely never had anything to do with Natsu getting kidnapped."

"And I'm sorry as well, Lucy." Juvia chimed in, not wishing for Gray to be alone while humbling himself, "If I hadn't been weak enough to get captured, my love would never have had to lie to you in the first place."

"Jeez, what is this place," Lucy remarked humorously, trying to dismiss how off-putting it was to see Gray acting so meek, "A confessional, or something?

"Guys, you don't have to apologize." She added a little more seriously, "Gray, you did whatever it took to get Juvia back to us, which is exactly how I feel about trying to get Natsu back; and the only people I think that might get hurt by this whole lie is Wendy, Goten, and Romeo."

Juvia actually gasped when she realized what Lucy was talking about.

"We accidentally created a teenage love triangle?" She realized, not knowing until it was too late that she was thinking aloud.

"Looks like it." Mirajane confirmed neutrally, "You may have noticed it, but Lucy and I have been trying to discourage Wendy from getting too close to Romeo too soon; but no one else knew about Goten soon enough like I did, and I couldn't just tell Wendy… I made a promise to Gohan that I'd stay silent way before I promised my discretion to Master."

"Dammit…" Gray swore at himself, realizing he never considered all the consequences of his deceit. He knew how much all three of those kids looked up to and respected him; and he finally understood exactly how selfish his actions were, realizing that in trying to have with Juvia what Goten already had with Wendy, he had personally sabotaged their relationship. And on top of that, he was learning that he might also ruin Wendy's second attempt at finding love as well, with poor Romeo caught in the middle of it all and possibly doomed for heartbreak as well.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Makarov finally spoke up again, deciding it was time to get back to work, and he began to deliver actual orders to the people in the room.

"Mirajane, I will be placing you in charge of the team that's responsible for finding your way to Earth. Gray will be your second in command with Lucy and Juvia also joining you; you told me Lisanna should already have found a way, but it's not available to us unless we have her help, correct?"

"That's right." The takeover mage affirmed, and Lucy was the first person on her side of the table to make a surprised and confused face.

"Hang on a minute," Lucy asked, wondering why this fact never came up before, "Lisanna's on Earth right now? How did she get there?! It's in an entirely different universe!"

"And when-" Juvia began to question until Gray answered her with his own guess.

"It was when she left to go and find a way to get Natsu back, wasn't it?"

"Yep." Mirajane explained, "But I haven't heard from her in a while, so I'm a little worried now; I'm hoping the reason I haven't heard from her is just because she's over there, and nothing worse. Poor Elfman doesn't even know a thing, but he's worrying about her too much as it is."

"Lisanna might have secured a source of transportation with outside help," Makarov steered the conversation back on point once more, "But the first Master and I would prefer if we had our own way to reach our guildmates in their separate universe. Your mission as a team will be to recruit anyone you need and gather or spend any resources as necessary until you have either discovered or constructed some way to travel such an unfathomable distance. My only stipulations are that you must be discerning in who you recruit; and anyone involved with this mission and its outcome are sworn to secrecy until I say otherwise. Are we clear on this?"

Everyone else in the room nodded to the Wizard Saint before he continued.

"Very good. Now hopefully, while you are in the process of possibly discovering new types of magical technology; we may also stumble upon something that will help our other covert team that will be out in the field. Crime Sorciere and Sabertooth have decided to turn their attention to Edo; and I have given Erza permission to recruit anyone she needs to assist our allies with their mission. That team will be less of a secret, however; so we need not worry about maintaining discretion there. I have also ordered Erza to share any information that could be helpful to your objectives, as I expect you to share with her. Now, any questions?"

The room was silent as everyone nodded.

"Excellent." Makarov said as he concluded their meeting, "Now, anyone wishing to discuss the plan further with me can stay while I wait for my lunch; otherwise, you're welcome to go out and enjoy your day however you wish. Tomorrow, you will start to get to work."

Everyone except for Mirajane and Makarov left the data room, and Juvia started the conversation between the three of them.

"Gray, my love, perhaps we should stop by our favorite restaurant in town," She suggested eagerly as she held one of his hands as soon as they were through the door, "I feel like we should celebrate that we no longer have any secrets between us! And here I believed the only way we could get any closer was physically…"

"Gross." Lucy reminded the water mage she was still standing behind them as they walked, and Gray awkwardly scratched the side of his head with his free hand in response.

"Like the idea, Juvia," Gray agreed before also saying, "But I think we should spend some time socializing with our guildmates for once, too. It's been a couple months since we've actually done that."

"Well, if you don't want to eat here," Lucy offered the two, "We could cook something up at my place. I'll get Happy and Charle to invite some others, and we can hang out and chow down just like old times."

"That could be nice." Juvia reluctantly admitted as the trio found themselves standing in front of the bar while still talking.

"Great! I'll go find Happy and go make my place ready for you guys." Lucy told them happily before saying goodbye and walking away to go look for Happy and Charle. The water and ice duo watched her walk away for a second before Gray came up with a way for them to kill time.

"C'mon, Juvia. We can take a walk through the park to kill time, if you still want that little celebration of yours anyway..." He told his companion as she followed him towards the main exit to the guild, holding hands the whole time; but Juvia pressed against his side and nearly gasped in joy at the last part of his sentence.

"Oh, my darling, you're so considerate!" She remarked happily as the doors to Fairy Tail closed behind them; and she eagerly began to lead the way towards the city of Magnolia, lightly tugging her unofficial boyfriend behind her and down their path.

 **Back on Earth…**

Son Gohan woke up feeling warm and optimistic as he took a second to enjoy Videl's unconscious hold on him. The feeling of his wife holding him tightly from behind as she slept was a sensation he would never tire of waking up to; and despite the fact that he was dead and required no sleep yet, his sleep schedule was one of the first things he reestablished as soon as he had returned home.

Sighing contently, he took another minute before gently lifting the arm Videl had resting on top of him and slowly shuffling out of bed. He moved to his dresser and dug through until he found the first set of martial arts clothes he could; and he smirked faintly when he pulled his purple dogi out and changed into it, thinking it had been a while since he wore the outfit. He tied the outfit's red belt around his waist and slipped into his fighting shoes before taking another appreciative glance at his sleeping wife.

Hoping Videl might still be in bed by the time he got back, Gohan exited their bedroom before walking down the hall until he was entering the second floor of the large, round living room; and knowing his wife was not awake to scold him for his laziness, he easily leapt over the railing and landed smoothly near the dining table.

It still felt odd that he did not have to entertain Pan as he and Videl usually did by this point in the morning; but he was not going to complain about the missing routine either. Ever since their daughter had started spending the nights with her grandparents two months ago, merely because Goku was actually staying there once again; Videl had made sure they took full advantage of their time alone. Inspired by Trunks and Lisanna, they once again had picked up a habit of going out on dates and having training sessions together as well.

Entering the kitchen, Gohan rubbed some sleep out of his right eye before opening the fridge and pulling out a leftover sandwich from yesterday's lunch and eating it in a few bites before heading back to the living room.

 _I wonder if Dad or Goten are up…_ He thought to himself before trying to use his ki sense to find out for himself. He sensed that everyone at the other Son house was still asleep; and Gohan finally looked at the clock and understood why everyone was still asleep: the time was nearly four-thirty.

 _Oops._ He remarked to himself, realizing he should have noticed the lack of sunlight outside way before he noticed the clock. _I guess I still haven't got my internal clock totally readjusted yet…_

Taking consolation with the fact that he would more than likely be done before Videl was up now, Gohan crossed the living room and walked out his front door, closing it behind him before gently taking off into the sky; and he flew to his preferred training grounds deeper into the mountain range.

As soon as he landed, he scanned his surroundings before sitting cross legged on the earth; and he closed his eyes as soon as he was settled comfortably. Taking a few deep inhales and exhales, the demi-Saiyan began to focus his mind, using his basic trick to start his mental exercises.

Imagining a long and dark hall with seven doors inside it, Gohan assigned each door to one of his senses. The first few doors were sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste; but he did not need to use any of those at the moment, so he made sure they were locked up nice and tight before moving to the last two. These were always the hardest doors to maneuver: ki sense, at the end of the hall, was almost always trying to force itself open; and the door to his sixth sense was always seemingly trying to keep itself shut.

Fortunately for Gohan, the people that projected the larger and more distracting sources of energy were still asleep; so the last door inside his mind palace was relatively still for now, making it much easier for him to focus on accessing the least tangible of all his senses. Inside his imagination, he put nearly all his strength into pulling the door open; and after a few seconds of effort, the entryway finally gave way.

Stepping through the door, Gohan entered the other side to see that he was now standing over himself; and he once again fought off the weird feeling his out-of-body experiences gave him before launching into the sky, leaving his physical form to sit on the dirt motionlessly. After a few seconds he was exiting the Earth's atmosphere, and he continued to fly straight up for as long as he could.

One by one, he watched as his planet, then his solar system, and then his galaxy all shrank as he climbed higher, higher, and higher; but he suddenly stopped at a spot where he could see the edges of his universe, feeling once again like he could climb no higher and see no further. If he focused hard enough, he was sure he could fly down and examine every single living being in the universe; but his current target was way beyond that border, a fact that his limited image of the universes was proving.

Knowing his sense of frustration would only hinder his efforts, Gohan decided to start over. He knew he could break this limit on his telepathic abilities if he continued to exercise his mind just like he did his body; so the Saiyan continued doing these mental leaps into the cosmos for what Gohan thought was at least an hour before he began to feel tired.

Opening his eyes and standing up, Gohan wiped sweat of his brow before checking his surroundings once again; and he was pleased to see that he managed to keep total control of his energy despite having even totally ignored it at one point, seeing that nothing had changed about the area near him. Sometimes when he tried too hard to use his telepathy, he would open his eyes to see things like fractures in the ground below him or signs of an irregular air current around him.

Gohan realized he must have been meditating for at least two hours, though, when he noticed the sun was jus beginning to rise over the horizon; and he decided not to waste time by flying back home. Putting two fingers to his head and focusing on his wife's lowered ki signature, grinning eagerly when he noticed she was still sleeping; and he transmitted into their bedroom the next instant.

He saw Videl had been moving around while she slept, since she was now completely on his side of the bed; and he knew by her moving around that she would probably be waking up soon. Quickly moving into their bedroom after finding a weighted set of his orange dogi and walking into the bathroom with his clean clothes.

After briefly rinsing off in the shower, he was out the bathroom and in his new outfit in record time, stepping into his blue combat shoes and walking out the bedroom while he fastened his blue belt around his waist; and once again he leapt over the railing as soon as he reached the living room, though he landed closer to the stairs this time. Turning around and promptly walking into the kitchen, he scratched his head awkwardly when he remembered that he had not actually cooked a meal in ages.

"Okay…" He tentatively said aloud, "Well, let's go with something simple, just to be safe…"

Barely a half-hour later, Videl stirred as she slowly woke up; and she unconsciously tried to grab her husband, planning to hug him and enjoy the sensation before opening her eyes. But when she felt nothing but air before her, she looked to see that she was actually on his side of the bed, which she had even nearly fallen off of. Finding his absence odd, she slowly stretched before her sense of smell finally caught up to her; and she looked at the nightstand by her side of the bed to see a warm cup of coffee steaming on a saucer.

Guessing Gohan must have ended his routine training session earlier than usual, she smiled pleasantly at the sight of the nice gesture; and she picked up the cup as soon as she had put a robe over herself, hiding the fact that she had nothing else on underneath it.

Sipping the coffee and noting that it was made exactly to her liking, she smiled once more before carrying the cup out the room; and when she reached their massive living room, she could smell breakfast being made way before she was walking down the stairs.

"Gohan, is that you down there?" She called out, guessing the attractive aroma was caused by him; and he promptly called back to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Sure is." He affirmed as he moved full plates and silverware onto a tray, smirking at his perfect timing before taking the tray and walking into the living room with it.

"Wow," She complimented as soon as she saw the food he was carrying in, "Not bad for a guy that hasn't cooked in a couple years."

"Thanks." He said with some relief before moving to set the tray onto the coffee table, preferring to sit on one of the wide couches just in case his wife wanted to sit with him; and he smiled happily when he saw her move to a couch before he even indicated which table he was moving to.

"I figured it was about time I did, though." He admitted as he set the tray down and as his wife sat down, "I mean, you've been spoiling me so much lately; I couldn't not return the favor."

Videl smiled to show she was grateful for the food, but she was also slightly amused at his naivety; she was not just spoiling him by cooking all those meals and spending all that time with him, she was spoiling herself as well. She moved over so he could sit next to her; and without even bothering with the food at first, she wrapped an arm around her husband's back and pulled him close before leaning her head on his shoulder and speaking again.

"You're too sweet, you know that?" She remarked with a sigh of content as she felt Gohan squeeze her lightly, quietly enjoying the faint smell of sweat he still had from his training session for a second before adding with a faux disgusted look, "And maybe a little salty, right now…"

"I'm sorry," He quickly apologized before loosening his grip on her, "I tried to rinse off, but…"

"I'm just teasing you, sweetie." She interrupted with a smirk, before she suddenly realized that the hunger she actually had was not for food at the moment; and she barely whispered the next part of her statement, "C'mon, you know I actually like it..."

"I do, b-" Gohan agreed, originally planning on steering the conversation back to the food; but the more rational sections of brain began to shut down when he felt Videl nibble on the side of his neck, causing his whole body to heat up under her touch.

"Just like I thought: salty." She commented seductively, with her breath tickling his skin and hindering his focus further, "Come here."

She used her free hand to grab his face and promptly kissed him; and Gohan was more than happy to return the kiss, but as soon as they parted for air, he was trying to ask about the food once more.

"Videl, hang on." He panted as she kept his face within inches of hers, "Don't you wanna eat while the food's hot?"

"Yeah, but that's why we've got a microwave." She flat out dismissed his point entirely, but Gohan was not upset with her choice; and he eagerly went along with her new plan as she forced him to lay down, thinking that they were probably going to have to clean the couch by the time they were done.

An hour and half later, Son Goten was had just finished waking up, bathing, and getting dressed; and he was walking into his family's living room where he was greeted by his parents, who were in their usual spots in the morning

"Hey, son." Goku said with his trademark enthusiasm, lowering his feet off the dinner table since he was sure his wife would turn around and see him rocking his chair once again.

"Good morning, Goten," Chi Chi then added, glancing to her son and giving him a smile before focusing back on her cooking, "Sleep well?"

"Sure did." He answered honestly before standing in the middle of the room and changing the subject, "Is breakfast ready?"

"Not yet, we only just woke up too." Goku told his son with a vaguely depressed tone, but he perked up and added a question before his wife could speak next.

"But, hey, we could go train while we wait, if you want?"

"Goten can if he wants," Chi Chi chimed in speaking more to her husband than her son, "But not you, mister."

"Aw, Chi Chi…" Goku whined weakly, "But why…?"

"Because this is some of the only time that I get to talk with you." She told him pointedly; and Goku knew he was not going to win this argument, though a thought occurred to him as he looked towards his son. Goten felt sympathetic for his father, and he had hesitated to leave despite hearing he had permission to, which is something Goku quickly noticed.

Subtly making signals to his son, pleading him for assistance; Goku was soon feeling grateful when Goten spoke up.

"Hey, Mom," He asked as casually as he could, "I could really use his help right now, actually."

Not sure if he had won her over yet, judging by his mother's indecisive expression, Goten added a decent point to his argument.

"Please? Training with Dad helps me learn how to survive fighting people that are stronger than me."

Chi Chi sighed before finally giving him, "Okay, fine."

"Yes!" Goku sprung from his seat in triumphant delight, "Thank you, Chi Chi! C'mon, son!"

"Just try not to get too dirty before breakfast is ready!" She ordered them as the two Saiyans quickly exited the building.

 **Meanwhile, at the Capsule Corp…**

Trunks had finished getting dressed, having put on his green dogi and yellow boots; and he was just fastening the orange belt around his waist when his girlfriend stepped out the bathroom, dressed in another one of the maroon and pink dresses she borrowed from her sister.

They exchanged smiles before she started looking for her flats that matched the color of the rest of her outfit; but Trunks was too busy noticing how she was carrying herself, seeing that she seemed lighter on her feet, and there was this odd aura of happiness coming off her.

Lisanna noticed he was staring at her, so after a second of silence, she finally spoke.

"What's up?" She wondered innocently, and Trunks quickly answered.

"It's nothing," He told her honestly, "I was just wondering why you're in such a good mood already."

"Is that a bad thing?" She momentarily paused her search to look at him, and he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before replying.

"No way! I just wanted to know what you're thinking about."

"Oh." His girlfriend said with realization, and he thought she was going to apologize; but she teased him instead.

"Well, if that's the case then, I guess I can tell you…"

She waited a second to build up anticipation before finally saying.

"That… it's a secret."

Trunks sighed and shook his head dejectedly at her sense of humor; and he gave up with a chuckle.

"Okay, princess, if you don't wanna talk about it yet, we don't have too."

"Thanks, Trunks." She replied gratefully before making a slight cheer, "I found them!"

Putting her shoes on, she turned to her boyfriend and gestured for him to lead the way.

"C'mon, you. We don't want to miss breakfast after all."

Trunks complied, and he began to walk out the room; but just as he crossed the doorway, Lisanna briefly dropped her façade by quietly stopping and sighing away some of her nerves, relieved that she managed to dodge Trunks' questions and annoyed with herself that she even tipped him off in the first place. And before her boyfriend could notice her absence, she was quickly walking behind him once more as they traversed the halls of Capsule Corp.'s residence wing until they reached the dining room, where they were met by Bulma and Bulla as the pair were eating.

"Morning, you two." Bulma greeted them politely before ceasing to eat and adding, "Want me to make you guys something? I'm sorry we started without you, but you know how she gets."

Bulma gestured to her daughter, who seemed to be playing with her food rather than eating it at the moment.

"Don't worry about it, Bulma." Lisanna told her reassuringly before asking if she could use Bulma's kitchen to cook for herself and Trunks; and Bulma allowed it without hesitation, for a few reasons that were not so obvious to the couple speaking with her. Trunks offered to help, but Lisanna had politely refused; so instead he sat and spoke with the three women as he and his mother watched his girlfriend cook.

Only Bulma noticed it, but there was one point when Lisanna was cooking where the young woman seemed bothered by something, likely a certain smell; and she could tell the takeover mage was putting some effort into fighting off whatever sensation she was feeling. For some reason, Bulma had felt like something was up with Lisanna as soon as she and Trunks walked into the room; but now that she had been examining her closely, and after having seen that mysterious expression on the girl's face, Bulma was beginning to develop a few theories about what was actually going on.

So as soon as the couple had finally begun to eat, Bulma began to casually ask them some questions by mixing inane ones with the few that she actually wanted to ask, hoping Lisanna would fail to notice her suspicion; and it worked, as their conversation went smoothly with neither of the couple catching on as Bulma conducted their unwitting interrogation.

After a few more rounds of exchanging questions and answers, Bulma was pretty sure she now knew what was going on with her son's girlfriend; but the thought, if it were true, was something that made her nervous and excited at the same time. She also knew that if she was right, Lisanna was going to need all the help she could get; and, in her opinion, sooner was better than later.

As soon as everyone had finished eating, Bulma started to work on getting a chance to speak with Lisanna privately.

"Hey, Trunks?" She requested, "Would you mind taking your sister and going to find Mai for me? I've got some work to do in one of the labs; and I would love it if she could keep an eye on her again, she's one of the few normal people that Bulla actually likes."

The little blue haired Saiyan finally indicated she was listening, but only with an agreeing nod; as her brother spoke up before she could.

"Sure thing, Mom." He said before standing up and smiling to his sister, "C'mon Bra, let's go find Mai."

"Okay!" Bulla cheered before climbing out her seat, taking her brother's hand, and walking out the room with him in tow. Lisanna was going to follow, but she noticed all the dirty dishes left on the table; and just as Bulma predicted she would, the wizard was kind enough to offer helping clean up.

"Sure, thanks." Bulma played it cool, talking about her daughter for a moment before getting to the real conversation, "I'll tell you what, that little girl of mine is so spoiled; she only speaks when she wants something nowadays."

Lisanna chuckled in response as she helped Bulma move the dirty dishes to the sink; and Bulma let her rinse them as she stood beside her, soon starting up the conversation once more.

"So, uh, I hope you don't mind my asking; but how are things between you and Trunks?"

"Things are great." Lisanna answered confidently, "Probably better than ever, actually. Only thing I can really complain about is that he can worry a bit too much sometimes, but that's not really a bad problem to have; and he's getting better about it, too."

"You might not have been able to tell," Bulma supplemented the takeover mage's observations on Trunks, "But he gets that from his father. Vegeta's almost always worrying about us; and it's one of the reasons why he's so obsessed with getting stronger."

"I thought that was it." Lisanna said thoughtfully, "It was a bit of a mystery for a bit, because you're pretty calm when it comes to problem-solving. Like when Edo showed up at Goten's party, a lot of people there were scared or angry at him; but when I looked at you, you were just focused, trying to learn everything you could from the situation…"

"Well," Bulma remarked, feeling more than a little flattered, "I'm glad it looked that way; because I didn't feel as calm as I looked. That was a really nice party he crashed! And he was so rude…"

Lisanna smiled before adding, "And here I was thinking you were going to say 'scary'; but that's what I'm talking about, Bulma. You aren't intimidated by Edo like I am; and you've never talked about the Keepers with any hint of concern, either… I want to be that kind of brave."

"You might not believe me when I say this, but you actually don't." Bulma tried dismissing the praise, mostly because she knew her ego need no more inflating for the day, "I'm afraid you only get that kinda courage though experience; and I really hope that you and Trunks won't have to run into as many mass-murdering creeps as I have.

"But then again, you're dating a Saiyan." Bulma remarked while moving out Lisanna's way so she could put the dishes to the washer, "You wouldn't have been able to do that if you didn't have that kind of courage, all kidding aside. Saiyans are attracted to strength in all its forms; it's a product of being a 'warrior race'."

"That makes sense." Lisanna agreed as she finished loading the dishwasher, and Bulma started it for her before speaking again.

"I hope you know this, Lisanna, but you can always talk to me if you need anything." She offered sincerely, before vaguely driving at the actual purpose for her statement, "If anything's going on with you two, and if you're not really sure who you can talk to about it; just come find me, and I promise that whatever it is will stay between us."

"Thanks, Bulma; I'll remember that." The takeover mage replied gratefully before commenting, "I'm sure I'm going to need that kind of help at some point down the road…"

"Everyone does, kiddo." The bluenette informed her, moving back to sit by the table while the wizard stood before her, "Sometimes there are things that happen that you just don't plan for."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Lisanna remarked knowingly, and there was a brief instant where Bulma noticed that the wizard definitely seemed to be thinking about something specific.

"Lisanna, I'm serious," The scientist finally began to reveal her suspicions, "If there's something that's happened, you really should tell someone about it. And judging by the face you made earlier when you were cooking…"

Bulma saw Lisanna squirm awkwardly, who was finally realizing that her façade was failing her; but her reluctance to speak caused Bulma to make sure she was not feeling pressured to talk.

"Look," the bluenette said coolly, despite knowing how serious this conversation was if her assumptions were correct, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Lisanna; but I think I already know what's going on."

Lisanna gulped nervously, worried that Bulma would think less of her once the cat was out the bag, "You do?"

"I do now." The scientist answered confidently before offering a seat at the table across from herself, "And you really shouldn't feel guilty about it, you know. If anyone's to blame it's me, because I really should have seen it coming; and Vegeta should have, too. Honestly, as parents, we really should have had a more personal conversation with Trunks months ago…"

"Really?" Lisanna questioned, still wondering if they were talking about the same thing even though she was mostly sure that Bulma knew the truth.

"Really really." Bulma said with a hint of humor before adding seriously, "And you're making a mistake not telling Trunks about it. Not 'cause you could make him mad, which I doubt he'll be mad at all when he finds out; but because telling him about it would help him get stronger as a fighter, as well."

Lisanna was quietly thinking about the bluenette's words; and Bulma could see the conflict in the mage's thoughts on her face, so she decided to simply drive her point home.

"Save us some time here, Lisanna; and please just tell me. Believe me, saying it aloud seems like an easy thing to do; but it's actually an important step in processing all the emotions that come with it. I promise I'm not going to be shocked by your answer, okay?"

Lisanna was silent once again, with this pause feeling much longer than it actually was for both of them; and after nearly half a minute of awkward silence, the takeover mage finally began her confession.

 **Meanwhile, just outside the building…**

A bright white portal opened just ten feet above the cement t-intersection between the sidewalk that bordered the street and the concrete that led towards Capsule Corp; and a seemingly-young green-eyed woman with long, wild, and bright red hair was suddenly standing before the massive scientific facility as the portal disappeared.

Walking to the entrance of the Briefs family building, she readjusted her white uwagi and her red belt before making sure her white pants and black kung-fu shoes were in good condition as well; and as soon as she was sure she looked presentable, she opened one of the clear glass doors and walked inside the Capsule Corporation.

Grinning when the young brunette woman at the front desk looked at the door in confusion, she casually walked past the front desk and straight through the atrium. She stopped for a moment to enjoy the sight of the dinosaurs before finding the way to the Gravity Room; and without bothering to knock or even use the door, she created lazily portals on both sides of the entrance before walking through them.

As soon as she did so, she ended her invisibility spell and closed the portals behind her; and she was instantly greeted by Vegeta's angry swearing.

"Tch! Goddammit, why is my training always getting interrupted?! We were just getting started!"

"You! Who the hell are you, and why the hell are in here?" He demanded instantly.

A few yards behind Vegeta, Trunks was immediately perplexed by the situation. Unlike his father, he saw how this red-haired stranger entered the room; and he recognized Iga's clothing style instantly, as well. The bright red hair struck his interest even more, too; and he was beginning to feel as if he should know who this woman was.

"Well," She teased Vegeta humorously while crossing her arms casually, "You're clearly not the clever one."

"What did you just-?!" Vegeta began to argue, but Trunks interrupted him.

"H-hang on, Father…" He said cautiously while moving to stand beside the Saiyan prince, "I think I know who this is."

"Oh, really?" She remarked, and Trunks easily recognized her goofy smirk was identical to the one Iga always wore; and her tone seemed eerily similar as well, "Well, don't let me stop you; guess away."

"You're Claris, aren't you?" Trunks replied, hoping he was not correct, "You got in here by using light magic like my Master; but there's no one else across the universes that should have magic like his, and believe me, we've looked. If Master Iga hasn't given you his powers, then you must be the Keeper of Light."

"I'll give you this, Vegeta," The redhead responded with her near-permanently amused tone, "You were smart enough to find a good wife; I mean, can you imagine how low his I.Q. would be without Bulma's genes in him?"

She made a face of disgust when she finished, and Vegeta began to struggle with the sudden and extreme urge to punch her in her jabbering jaw.

"Is there a point to any of this crap?" The Saiyan demanded irritably; and the Keeper shrugged with the intent to annoy him once more.

"It's possible."

Trunks had to quickly move between the two to prevent his father from starting a fight before they were ready; and thinking that if her behavior in combat was similar to Iga's, like her other mannerisms were, he knew that a fight with her would not be straight-forward.

Iga's main technique in his fights was the constant use of his wit and humor, often starting with it to goad his enemies into foolish or impulsive actions; and if he knew enough about his opponent, the immortal could often end fights with one perfectly planned ambush. Trunks knew that if he and his father were walking out of here, it would be either by outsmarting and then overpowering her, or by not fighting at all; and Trunks was genuinely doubting the latter option would even be an option at all.

"How about you talk to me instead of my father, okay?" Trunks requested with his best attempt to be nice, "I can tell you're a lot like my Master for some reason, but those two have never gotten along well…"

"Oh, I know." She agreed, "I'm like a less-creepy Santa, except I kill the naughty children…"

She saw Vegeta and Trunks both begin to take defensive stances upon hearing her words, but she quickly clarified her meaning.

"Sorry, sorry! Bad joke…" She apologized, and the two Saiyans gave her confused looks before she explained, "Guys, I'm not here to talk about all that universe-balancing crap."

"You're not?" Trunks replied skeptically, "Then that means that Iga fought you and won, right?"

"Sure," She remarked dismissively, waving one hand lazily as she did, "Something like that. Anyway, I'm here to give you a heads up."

"And why should we believe anything you'd have to say?" Vegeta chimed in, bitterly suspicious.

"Because I'm the person that's been keeping the rest of the Keepers away from you." She informed them honestly and standing proudly as she did.

"You have?" Trunks wondered, slowly starting to believe her, "How?"

"By keeping my former partner Cosmos from finding all of the Dragon Balls." She revealed, and a bead of nervous sweat ran down Trunks' forehead at the thought of the Keepers using the Dragon Balls.

"Unfortunately, my broad sense of humor rubbed off on him over time," She continued to explain, "And he decided that he's going to stop you from breaking his rules by using the things you used to break them."

"Well, he can't make Shenron kill us;" Trunks thought aloud, "So what would he use his two wishes for, if he got them?"

"First, he'll wish that you, your friends, and your family will never be able to travel to another universe again." She answered promptly, "And second, he plans on asking Shenron for a weapon of human design; something that he plans to kill all of you with.

"And I would say that all's well, since I'm keeping him away from most of them like I said," She added matter-of-factly, "But he managed to snag one before I hid the others from his sight; so, if you ever want to summon Shenron ever again…"

"We'll have to fight him for it." Trunks finished her sentence before asking another question, "But why do all this instead of just taking us out when it was easier? We've been spending months training just to fight him, and you guys knew that."

"Because he's arrogant and cocky." Claris explained easily, "He wants you all to get as strong as you want before you fight him, and he thinks it won't make a difference either way."

"Hmph." Vegeta huffed impatiently, not finding the fact that he was being underestimated to be very amusing.

"Look, you can do whatever you want with this info; I don't really care." She told the pair plainly, "I just came here 'cause Igneel asked me to."

"Master did?" Trunks repeated, getting a nod from her before asking his real question, "Do you know where he is?"

"Sure do." She answered with another friendly nod, "He's gathering the rest of the Dragon Balls."

"He is?" Trunks said with some surprise; and with a small, lingering sense of suspicion asked, "Why didn't he tell me about it? He hasn't been letting sense where he is either, now that I think about it…"

"Feeling jealous?" She teased him before explaining, grinning at the demi-Saiyan's irked expression as she did, "Don't worry, Igneel's just fine. He hasn't told you because he said it wanted to hunt the Dragon Balls 'the old-school way'; he also said Bulma should know what he meant by that."

Trunks was still slightly confused, but after a few more seconds of thought; he figured out his master's motives.

"He's trying to learn about what life is like on Earth, isn't he?" The demi-Saiyan inquired, and Claris nodded once more before he added, "What Edo said at Goten's party must have really got to him…"

"Yeah," The Keeper sighed in depressed agreement, "Acnologia's always been able to get under Igneel's skin, especially after he killed me…"

Both Vegeta and Trunks gave her confused expressions once more, though Trunks was beginning to recognize the Keeper.

"Edo killed you?" He wanted to make sure she was telling the truth, but she seemed to prefer avoiding the subject.

"And do you plan to repeat everything I say?" She mocked him dismissively, and she waved a hand to create a portal in preparation to leave, "Look, it's been great and all; but I was having fun helping Igneel, and I don't really wanna be in this room all day, so I'm gonna go now…"

"N-no…" Trunks stuttered in response to her first statement before interrupting her after she created the portal and moved towards it, "Hey, wait!"

The redhead crossed her arms impatiently and stopped, looking at the ceiling and sighing impatiently.

"Please," Trunks played nice to reward her patience, speaking with the politest tone he could muster, "I want to know what your real name is, and why you're dressed in my Master's clothes…

Instead of wasting her time and risking annoying her again, Trunks quickly guessed his best to his own questions.

"You- you're Vesta, aren't you?" He asked tentatively, "Master Iga's wife…?"

"Bingo." She confirmed humorously before resuming her exit, "Now if you'll excuse me, Igneel and I were in the middle of our second honeymoon…"

Vesta was hallway through her portal when she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, wait! One more thing," She quickly said, "Casus, the Keeper of Sound, is now listening to everything you and your friends say; and he's a sneaky little guy, so don't be surprised if he pulls something tricky while you're dealing with Cosmos. They didn't expect me to switch sides on 'em like I did, so they're probably going to take you more serious now. Anyway, it was nice meeting you!"

Before she could walk away, Vegeta suddenly shouted at her angrily.

"Now just wait a damn minute! You cannot honestly think you can just waltz into my home, insult me and my son, and just get away with it?!"

Vesta looked at him sympathetically, but she had intention of entertaining him today.

"Don't worry, Vegeta, we can play some other time." She teasingly assured him with a wave goodbye before entering the portal as it closed.

 **In a desert many miles to the southeast…**

Vesta stepped out of her portal and landed gently in the sand before looking to her husband, and at the massive red and sand-colored pile of rubble before them.

"The Dragon Ball landed somewhere in there?" She asked him instead of greeting him, moving to stand beside him on the very bottom stairs to what she guessed was the foundation of the once-standing building. Those steps were the only recognizable part of the architecture though, the only other thing she could deduce was that the red colored rubble was likely part of the roof or roofs; since the red debris was mostly atop the pile.

"Must've fallen into there with some force," She remarked thoughtfully before adding optimistically, "But digging it out won't be a problem."

"It would," Iga agreed before informing her, "But the problem is that we've got some kids that are in the way. They're in there right now, digging for it."

"Well that's actually convenient, isn't it?" She questioned him, "They'll dig it for us, and we'll just take it from them… If they don't give it to us after we ask nicely, of course."

"I guess…" Iga agreed doubtingly, "I doubt these two are going to be the cooperative type, though; and I'm gonna feel bad about stealing from some kids."

"Then let's just dig it ourselves; and we'll be outta this miserably-monochrome desert before my skin burns." Vesta quipped, and her husband smirked at her poorly-masked impatience before replying.

"Can your skin even get burned?"

"Shut up, Igneel."

The next second, Vesta raised her right hand slightly upward; and after a second of feeling out the debris field with her ki, she lifted every bit of rubble that was not attached to the ground before sending the pile rocketing skywards until it was literally out of Earth's orbit.

The two kids Iga mentioned were revealed to be a very short, blue-skinned teenager with long and pointy ears; and the other was a bi-pedal Shiba Inu in a purple ninja suit. The odd pair were still staring into the horizon in shock, standing on the remains of the foundation of their former home and wondering what they had just witnessed.

"Good morning, guys!" Iga greeted them amiably, and he immediately recognized them, "Came home to find the Dragon Ball?"

Both the young man and canine jumped at the sound of his voice, and they turned quickly to see the pair of redheads grinning at them. Clearly still terrified by Vesta's actions, the pair remained frozen in shock; so much so that Iga was unsure if they had even understood what he said to them. And just before Iga tried speaking to them again, the canine finally asked his leader what he should do.

"Hey, uh, Boss…" He hesitated to even speak, afraid of saying anything that could potentially anger the two clearly power beings before them, "I'm sorry, sir, but I- I don't think we can fight these guys…"

"You don't say…" Emperor Pilaf almost stuttered in response.

"They're a perceptive little pair." Vesta remarked humorously to her husband, "But I hope they're smart enough to stay out our way…"

"Don't worry," Iga assured her, striding past the terrified duo and looking around as he did, "Those two know by now what happens when they mess with people like Goku and his friends."

At the sound of the Saiyan's name, Pilaf seemed to flinch unconsciously while Shu tried to question the strangers.

"You're friends with Goku?" He asked nervously, "So you're one of the good guys, right?"

"He is." Vesta gestured towards her husband before adding with her usual smirk, "But, me; I'm afraid not."

Shu gulped nervously, and the female redhead's playful smirk changed to an amused grin.

"Now play nice, Ves," Iga called back as he spotted his quarry laying in a corner of the foundations, next to what appeared to be a defunct, giant pinball bumper, "We won't be here much longer…

"And besides," He added as he started walking towards the shiny orange orb, "Trunks would probably be mad at me if he found out we hurt Mai's friends; he had a bit of a crush on her when he was younger, you see…"

"So that's why you stopped me when I tried to obliterate them along with that huge pile of rocks?" She lied, finding the way the pair squirmed in mostly-silent terror to be very amusing.

"Sure is." Iga decided to entertain her as he picked up the Two-Star Dragon Ball and dusted it off.

Pilaf leaned in the direction he saw Iga walk, and he managed to glimpse the redhead picking up the magical item. Deciding he had to at least try to claim the Dragon Ball for himself, Pilaf slowly stepped closer towards Iga as he spoke to him.

"Well… since it seems that you, sir, are the kinder, more considerate one;" He pleading flatteringly, "Perhaps you could allow us to have that Dragon Ball? You see, this is my property it's landed in-"

"Yeah, but I dug it out." Vesta reminded him, but Pilaf surprisingly argued back.

"Which is what we were doing before you showed up with all your crazy powers!" He retorted in timid frustration, "Goku, Trunks, Goten, whoever you are! You all think you can just swoop in wherever you want, do whatever you want, and take whatever you want! But I am Emperor Pilaf, do you hear me?"

Iga was mildly impressed by the blue teen's tirade; and instead of refuting it, he continued to listen while knowing that his wife would soon interrupt it for him.

"And that Dragon Ball has landed in the seat of my empire! It is-"

"Boring!" Vesta mockingly interjected, just as Iga predicted she would; but he did not expect her to give them lecture she soon gave them, "Look around kid, your seat's been reduced to a step-stool."

Pilaf quietly gasped at her insult before she continued to speak.

"You should have listened to your friend Mai and stayed in West City like she has. Either that, or you should have realized by now that the Dragon Balls will always attract people like us; and if you aren't going to get stronger or smarter -which you seem very incapable of, by the way- then you should go back to being the layabout, freeloading, and clumsy mooches that occasionally manage to do one trivial task without totally screwing it up."

Shu was shocked and stayed silent as he processed her harsh words of advice; and Pilar was silently crying, feeling that his pride had been completely shattered. Even Iga was taken off-guard by her harshness, and he stopped walking about halfway through her speech.

"And now that we're all on the same page," She concluded pointedly, "I'm going to kindly ask if you would allow us to take the Dragon Ball, because we are gods; and we do take what we want, when we want, wherever we are. The only reason you haven't been hurt, maimed, or killed is because you were lucky enough to run into patient gods; and you're even luckier that my husband's a nice guy; otherwise I'd have killed you for raising your voice at my man.

"Come on, Igneel, it's time to go." She ordered him next, but with a softer tone than the one she gave Pilaf, "This sand's starting to get in my clothes."

"Explains why you went off on him like that." Iga remarked with faint amusement as he obeyed her; and the pair began to walk away from the Pilaf duo.

"I hate deserts." Vesta added, and Iga smirked in response before reaching into his right pants pocket and retrieving a silver Hoi Poi Capsule tin that Trunks had given him some time ago.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed to console her as he opened the tin and pulled out of the capsules as he quoted something she said ages ago, "'The only good place for sand is a beach', right?"

Clicking the capsule and tossing it onto the ground with one hand while closing the tin with his other hand, Iga watched the resulting purple cloud of smoke clear before turning back to see that Pilaf and Shu were quietly following them from a distance.

"Hey, for the record," He told them as they jumped in fright from his gaze, "I was going to tell you pretty much the same thing she did; but I'd have been a bit nicer about it. Anyway, I recommend you guys find your way back to the Capsule Corporation soon, because there's going to be some crazy things happening on this planet; and you're gonna want to be friends with the Briefs when it happens. See you later!"

Turing back to see their jet-black, four-seater hovercar with red leather interior, Iga smirked as he noticed he turned back just in time to see Vesta jumping into the front passenger seat. She kicked her feet up onto the dashboard and waited for him to leap into the driver seat, brushing some sand off her clothes while she did; and the driver had taken his seat before he tossed her the Dragon Ball, which Vesta placed inside the glovebox next to the One, Three, and Six Star Dragon Balls.

"You know, you could've gone a little easier on those guys." He told her, starting the engine as he did, "I mean, it's good you didn't physically hurt them; but still, one of those poor guys was crying after…"

"Eh," Vesta commented neutrally after listening to her husband, stretching out her legs again and crossing her arms behind her head before adding, "They're not actually kids; they'll get over it."

Shaking his head as the hovercar began to hum and rise a few feet into the air, Iga looked back to his wife again and asked her, "So, where to next?"

Without changing position, Vesta activated her magic; and her eyes briefly changed to solid white before she answered him.

"Northeast, and for a while." She said before joking, "Hope you brought some warm clothing with you."

"I did not, I'm afraid." Iga replied with a smirk as he changed the accelerating hovercar's heading and raised its altitude, casually holding one hand on the sleek-black steering wheel as he did.

"Well, if you wanna stay somewhere a little warmer for one more day," She ran with the joke while giving directions, "There's some good places we could stop by on the way, depending on how you wanna spend the night, anyway."

"Ooh," Iga remarked with exaggerated interest, "We've got some variety in our options tonight?"

"Looks like it." She agreed before informing him, "By midafternoon we'll be over East City; so we can find a nice hotel room there, though I know we'll stick out like sore thumbs in the city."

"I don't know about that, actually." Iga interjected thoughtfully, scratching the right side of his head as he recalled some more information from his case study of Earth, "There's a martial arts temple on the edge of the city, right? If we do end up standing out, people will probably just assume we're martial artists too."

"Fair point." She agreed as her magic briefly focused on the Orin Temple to confirm Iga's statement before she put it out her mind and told him of another option, "We could also just avoid the city entirely if you want. There's a large forest of bamboo trees to the city's west; we could camp wherever we want in there…"

"We could," Iga considered the thought quickly before a new and more enticing one came to mind, "But I'm thinking we should stop by the temple."

"What for?" Vesta questioned curiously.

"We spent all our money on this car, remember?" He explained with a snarky reminder, "Because you insisted on not using any of Trunks'?"

"And you think a group of monks will have money?" She replied, turning the humor back onto him, "You do know why most of them walk wherever they need to go? Or why they dress in nothing but robes and gi's? It's because they're broke."

"The lower ranked ones are." Iga conceded before revealing more of his Earth-related knowledge, "But the best fighters at that particular temple are a very competitive type; and they are local prize fighters, with a few even fighting in the Tenkaichi Budokai way back when. They didn't stand a chance against Goku and his friends, though; so this will be a piece of cake for us."

"So, what?" Vesta thought aloud, "We challenge them to a duel, waging all we're worth or something like that; and take their money?"

"Basically," Iga agreed before revealing his true plan, "But we only need enough money to pay for the most expensive hotel room in the city."

"Really?" His wife commented with some surprise, "You want to stay in the city? But don't you prefer camping out in the wild?"

"I do," He confirmed, "Having to deal with crowds day in, day out, was bothersome and noisy; and here, the streets smell like the vehicles' exhausts. And since I can eat fire, believe me when I say it, that exhaust fume does not smell delicious in any way."

Vesta shook her head in amusement at his tangent about car exhausts before listening to him get back on topic.

"But if we're gonna be living the high life for one night, I think I can deal with it." He revealed before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and adding a confession.

"Besides, I'll go along with anything if it'll make you happy; and I know you've been wanting to stay somewhere nice for a while now…"

"Aw, you're trying to spoil me." She realized aloud with grateful humor before adding a little more seriously, "Igneel, you don't have to go through that whole process of getting that money just for me…"

"I don't, but I wanna." Her husband said, and to her surprise, she detected a hint of shyness in his tone, "Plus, you were right about what you said last week; I have had a problem with being… intimate… lately."

"Well, duh." She pointed out, "The last time we've done anything was when you recovered from the hole I put in your lung. Since then, you've turned me down every time I got frisky; and I'm still waiting to know why."

"Truth be told," Iga informed her, "I wasn't telling you because I really wasn't sure, like I said. But I know why now…"

"Oh?" She asked with hopeful curiosity, "What was it?"

"It's another hang-up about your death," He explained, trying to pick his words carefully as he did, "After it happened, I ended up creating this perfect image of you; and eventually I realize now that I idealized that rather than the real you."

"That doesn't sound too good for me." Vesta remarked, wondering if she should be worried about what he was going to say or not.

"I'm not trying to make it sound that way, it's not like you're a totally different person from back then." Igneel assured her before continuing, "But your only flaw back then was your impatience; and I think your time with the Keepers did change you a little, and… maybe …not for the better…?"

"What does that mean?" She asked calmly while resisting the urge to be defensive.

"Well, it's like you've got this colder, even more impatient side of you now." He tried to explain as best he could, "I mean, look at the way you treated Pilaf and his canine companion; you and I both know you didn't have to insult them as badly as you did, but the way you casually mentioned hurting them…"

"It's not like I've been spending hundreds of years around nice guys like you, Igneel." She defended herself.

"I know, I know." He agreed, momentarily taking both hands off the wheel to raise his hands defensively, "And I can tell that you are still the good person that I've always known; I just needed time to relearn it."

"Yeah?" She remarked, accepting most of his logic while having one more question, which she asked with a hint of sarcasm, "I'm sure my performance earlier was a fantastic display of my patience and kindness…"

"No, you weren't the nicest person earlier," Iga acknowledged the truth of what she said before making his point, "But you still gave them helpful advice; went out of your way to do it, even. And when Pilaf yelled at me, that was where I saw your real restraint. Even before you died, you always raised hands at someone that would insult me. Instead of physically taking your anger out on him, you did it verbally; and if that's the worst way you're gonna deal with people, compared to how you describe your behavior when you were one of the Keepers, it's a ray of sunshine."

"So," She concluded seductively, removing her feet from the dash and leaning towards him as she did, "Are you saying I should be looking forward to something special tonight?"

"What I'm saying," He steered the conversation back on topic, "Is that I can see that you're trying to go back to being one of the good guys; and I don't want you to feel like your morality's being evaluated or anything like that, you ended up becoming a Keeper because I failed to protect you…"

"Igneel," She interrupted him while caringly placing her left hand on his right shoulder, "That was Edo's doing; and I'm the one that decided not to run."

"I know," He agreed as Vesta withdrew her hand, "But my point is: lately I've come to realize that I'm not the good guy I'd like to be, either; at my heart I'm just selfish. You saw that when you showed up outside of Hargeon. I was willing to throw everything good by the wayside just because of one selfish desire! I mean, how many people's lives have I ruined by accidentally creating Edo? And what did I do it for, to make a little bit of money on some fancy looking artifacts?!"

"Again, Igneel," She reminded him once more, "That was Edo's choice too, he wanted to raid that temple just like you did."

"But he looked up to me!" Iga stated impatiently, "I was like a big brother to him back then, and I failed him like I failed you; like I failed Trunks and Lisanna by not fighting back against you… and all the secrets I've made people keep from each other…"

"Igneel…" She tried to stop him, but he was a little too worked up to stop; and he gripped the steering wheel angrily with both hands before continuing.

"And that name you keep calling me by, it hurts me… Igneel died the day you did; and he never deserved to use the name his family gave him, anyway…"

"Igneel." She said his real name defiantly to get him to look at her before asking a seemingly random question, "Does this car have an auto-pilot, or at least a way to hover at a really high altitude?"

"I think it can do both," He answered, slightly confused by the relevance of what she was asking.

"Then set the auto-pilot for our destination," She commanded him, "But set it to fly at the highest height possible."

"Okay…" He replied thoughtfully as he scanned the buttons and tiny switches in front of him until he found what he was looking for, "Ah, here we are…"

"Are we good? You're not flying us anymore?"

"That's right."

"Excellent." She said next, "Now, look at me."

As soon as he did so, he was stunned to feel her right hand slapping hard against his face with a solid 'smack!'. Stunned, he slightly recoiled and widened his eyes before staring right at his wife.

"Never give me that pity party crap ever again, you hear me?" She ordered him, and he numbly nodded, "You are not the bad guy in all of this; and if I'm being honest, I don't even think Edo's totally a bad guy, either. If there's one thing I learned from the Keepers, it's that the idea of 'good' can be interpreted in so many different ways.

"But what's 'good' or 'bad' doesn't matter to me, Igneel." She added after lifting her right hand again, but this time gently massaging the area of his face that she had struck, "You matter to me.

"And if you can't reconcile your want to be 'the good guy' with all the mistakes you've made; then don't try to. Just focus on doing what you think is right in the moment, and don't get hung up on what you should've done."

Using her light grip on his face, she pulled him and shifted closer until she was pressing her forehead against his.

"I might have changed a bit, but you're still that great man that I fell for hundreds of years ago." She concluded with a whisper, "So just live your life, Igneel; and let me stay by your side and show you just how good you are…"

"Ves…"

Before Iga could say what he was feeling, his wife placed her lips onto his; and he instinctively returned the favor. After a few seconds, they stopped for air; and Vesta grinned devilishly before starting to undo her belt and giving him one more order as she jumped into the much roomier backseat of the car.

"And now that we've got all that cleared up, get back here and help me break in this leather seating; but don't make me say that again."

Igneel saw her starting to undress, and all the final strands of his negative thoughts died at the sight; and after delivering one comment, he began to climb over the seat and onto her.

"Oh, don't worry, you're not gonna have to tell me twice…"

 **Back on Earthland, in the Shadow of the World…**

Edo-Acnologia stepped out of his lab feeling triumphant; and Cel Rhea, who was waiting for him in the hall, could easily see the self-satisfied grin on her lover's face.

"You've done it, haven't you?" She questioned him excitedly while clutching her hands together in a physical display of her eagerness, "Tell me they've survived the transformation!"

"They have indeed, every single one of the last batch has made it." Edo informed her, and the god slayer instantly jumped a few times in excitement as he continued his announcement, "And they are as obedient as I had hoped. Now, anyone with my dark powers will be able to give them any command; and they will obey without hesitation."

"I can't wait, I can't wait, icantwait…" Cel was chanting until she suddenly stopped with a new thought.

"Wait… you know what this could mean, don't you, hot-stuff?"

"I most certainly do, my love." Edo replied with an eager grin, "My success here means that it's possible for us to turn the whole world into our obedient minions; and I won't have to keep making lacrima to do it, either."

"Ooh! An invention that's cost-efficient and megalomaniacal? It's perfect, they're perfect!" The earth wizard exclaimed in pure bliss; but Edo did his best to temporarily lower her expectations of his creations.

"I wouldn't get so excited just yet, my dear. We might have been successful in creating them, but we have yet to see them in action. We can celebrate after we've seen what they're capable of."

Before Cel could reply to her boyfriend, planning on volunteering to test them herself, she saw as he created a portal on a wall near them; and the pair were quickly greeted by Zancrow, who was busy exercising in his quarters until they contacted him.

"Master Edo, Cel," He said their names respectfully before inquiring, "How may I help?"

"Now, Zancrow, why do you assume I need something from you every time I call?" Edo remarked teasingly, "Perhaps I just wished to see how you're doing…"

"Everyone wants something, Master." Zancrow stated honestly, "I meant no offense by what I asked."

"And none was taken, I assure you." Edo finished playing with his subordinate before giving him his orders, "Because you are quite right, I do need something from you; but it could be something I think you'd find quite enjoyable. As you know, I've been designing a way to bolster our ranks since our little band of warriors has been reduced to half-capacity; and now, they're finally ready for a field test. I'd like for you to put them through their first series of experiments, you see; that way I can observe from a distance and see if there is any flaw in their design."

"I will do as you wish, Master." Zancrow complied with only one question, "Do you have any specific target in mind for their first hunt?"

"Hm…" Edo pondered his options before ultimately deciding on not deciding, "Let's make it your call, Zancrow. Since this is the control test, we should probably avoid the Fairy Tail or Sabertooth guild halls for the time being; but everywhere else should be fair game."

"As you wish, Master." The yellow-haired wizard replied, "How soon would you like me to begin?"

"As soon as you find it convenient, my friend." Edo answered before confessing to him, "I'll admit this, though, I'm curious to see how you will handle being in command of my power."

"I swear I shall not disappoint you, Master." Zancrow vowed, and Edo grinned while shoving Cel out of the fire wizard's view when she feigned gagging motions at the pair.

"I'm sure you won't." The shadow wizard assured his student before adding one final stipulation, "Just do me one favor: wherever you take them, make sure that a few civilians get to flee in terror. It's more than likely that they won't actually see what's attacking them, but their terrified tales should be enough to get the attention of the guild wizards; and I'm wondering what kinds of fish we'll draw in with this bait."

"I've got a few good places in mind, Master." Zancrow informed him, "And they're all packed with people, I'm certain there will be a lot of witnesses to what your powers can do."

"I admire your ambition." Edo confessed before concluding his conversation, "Now, I've enhanced your curse power and the corresponding abilities with it; so this will be the closest you've got to using my full power. I hope you'll be able to handle it; because if you do not successfully harness all of the power I'm giving you…

"My Enenrae will eat you alive."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter VII: Reclaimer

 **At the Kingdom of Fiore's Akane Beach Resort…**

The Flame God Slayer Zancrow teleported onto the sandy shores before the park's entrance as soon as the sun had set. For a brief moment he closed his eyes and wished he were there simply to enjoy the place with Merudy, and he then hoped none of her friends would try to interfere; but he quickly suppressed his kinder emotions, knowing his master was somewhere watching, before striding towards the stairs leading to the massive hotel's entrance. He knew that he would have to be merciless tonight, no matter who he ended up facing.

Preparing himself for the intense power he was about to give himself, Zancrow focused his mind and magical power before accessing the curse powers of his master; and he soon felt the familiar dark power taking hold of him, causing a dark mist to rise from random sections of his body like steam. But instead of feeling the basic power-up these curses gave him, Zancrow felt his whole body begin to strengthen by tenfold, at the very least; and his skin began to turn black as the overwhelming surge of dark power began to consume him. He could feel his mind emptying, like he was quickly being shoved off a cliff into deep void; and at the bottom, he could sense nothing but wild mania.

For an instant, he began to think had failed as he felt the last few strands of his consciousness fighting what felt to be a second, less stable form of consciousness from taking over; but his instincts took over, inspired by an image of the woman he loved, and he slammed a foot on the ground while bringing his fists to his sides with a yell. Black fire radiated from his body as he used his god slaying powers purge the divine darkness from within himself.

As soon as he felt he was in total control of his body, Zancrow once again attempted to access the powers of his master; but this time he tried to blend his power with Edo's, hoping the purging facet of his magic would temper the overriding impulses of whatever was trying to obtain control over him.

It worked; and the next moment, Zancrow ceased emanating fire or darkness; and he felt all facets of his strength increase staggeringly one more time, having reached a new height of power earned from maintaining total control of his ki, curse, and magic powers all at once. Testing his ability, he lifted his left hand before himself and manifested the powers in his hand; and he grinned triumphantly upon seeing a black flame that had a black mist rising off it like smoke. Touching the tip of the flame with his right index finger, he could feel his energy had actually solidified the flame; and where he touched was very sharp. He believed the only reason his finger was not cut was because it was his power; but the thought did not matter to him, now, he was more concerned with completing his master's orders.

Finally resuming his walk towards the hotel's entrance, he looked around to locate the sources of light that shone down on the front area of the resort's lot; and he waved his right hand lazily before fire engulfed the necessary lights and immolated them with a 'pop', causing the area he was standing in to become pitch black.

 _So this is it…_ He thought to himself as he came up with a way to easily describe his power, _The power of a Dark-God and a Flame God Slayer… a Dark Flame God Slayer…_

Turning his back to the front face of the building, Zancrow slowly moved his right arm from left to right while aiming his palm at the ground a few feet ahead of him; and the power he activated turned the ground into a black rift, looking as if he were painting the ground with a massive invisible brush.

Looking inside the large rift, Zancrow watched as his master's newest creations began to climb out; and he was glad for his heightened senses, otherwise he would barely have seen them due to their bodies being composed of nothing but darkness incarnate.

When stationary, the tops of these creatures' amorphous bodies reached around five and a half feet tall; but it was hard for Zancrow to exactly tell, since the Enenrae all looked like imps made of billowing jet-black fire or smoke. The only way he could easily track their movement was by their wedge-shaped eyes, which were the same dark blue color as his master's hair; and he had a faint sense of their mental presence, feeling like their minds were somehow linked to his.

Taking a headcount, Zancrow numbered twenty of them before testing his influence over them. Looking to two of the Enenra on the right end of the group, he ordered them to move towards one of the broken lights alone; and he grinned when he saw the specified pair reach the nearest light lacrima in a few leaps and looking back to him patiently after doing so.

"You two." He pointed to another pair for one final test, "Try to kill each other."

The Dark Flame God Slayer grinned amusedly when the two obediently began to try clawing at each other, with one eventually wrapping their claws around what he guessed was the other's neck before he interrupted them.

"Alright, that's enough." He told them, and they stopped before he gave his next command, "Now follow me."

Turning back to the entrance of the hotel, Zancrow walked indoors through the extended entryway; and he only stopped when he was greeted by the resort's concierge, who he briefly ignored to admire the sight of the hotel's interior until he decided he had spent enough time enjoying himself.

"Before you give me the sales pitch," He told a young brunette woman in a uniform that was about to greet him, "I need to know something: can you see anything standing behind me?"

Confused by the awkwardly rude greeting and bizarre question, she looked at the apparently empty hallway behind him for a second before answering him.

"No, sir…" She tried her best to not sound as confused as she was, but she was also masking her fear; as the eyes of the yellow haired man had an intimidating wildness to them, "I don't see anything…"

"Really?" Zancrow questioned her one more time with a dark grin, and she nodded timidly before he added a remark, "That's a shame… this is going to be more confusing than terrifying for you, I guess."

The concierge began to question what he meant, but he interrupted her by giving a command to the creatures behind him.

"One of you, hold her." He said with his back to her, and he could hear her screaming as one of the Enenra leapt past him and onto her; but he ignored her confused pleading for help as he gave out more orders.

"Once we're done with her, four of you will need to turn over everywhere that looks important and stealing anything that could be valuable. I need four of you to start hunting the people staying in their rooms, and I need five of you to go after anyone on the attractions inside while two more hunt down anyone that could be in the spas or baths. Two of you will remain at my side and protect me from any surprises while two more of you take the casino downstairs; and the last of you will remain here, making sure no one interferes.

"Now," He finalized his commands as he turned back to look down on the poor girl that was pinned underneath one of his underlings, "Except for the first four of you I gave orders to, go do my bidding, and spare only a handful of people as you go."

He grinned evilly before ordering the creature atop the blonde to release her; and she quickly tried to get up and run, though the dark wizard was much quicker.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He tutted at her as he grabbed her by the throat with his right hand, and he heated his hand immensely as he spoke, "Where do you think you're going? Don't you know it's rude to walk away without saying goodbye?"

The young woman began to yell in pain as he created a hand-shaped burn around her neck.

"Well, since it seems like you're incapable of friendly conversation," He taunted her, "Perhaps I should let you go and find someone I can talk to. Still, I do have a message I'd like for you to spread.

"I'm going to ask this once and only once," He said as he eased his grip and slowly cooled his hand, "Can I trust you to properly convey my message to anyone you can?"

The girl weakly nodded as she whimpered hurtfully.

"Good." Zancrow told his hostage, "Now here's what you must say: Akane Resort now belongs to Edo's Enenrae; and anyone that hasn't escaped our little takeover, will either be killed or consumed by our power.

"Go." He ordered her before tossing her towards the entrance and adding with a yell.

"And remember this well, because this isn't a bluff: tell everyone you can, or you'll meet the same fate as the rest of the people here."

 **Back on Earth, at Grandpa Gohan's House…**

Son Goten and Natsu Dragneel were sitting in the grass a few yards before small blue house while chatting with a very large campfire roaring between them; and atop the pyre was a massive fish, at least twenty-five feet long, which was suspended with an equally large, makeshift rotisserie that was manned by the fire mage.

They had talked about aimlessly while the fish cooked. Goten answered more of Natsu's questions about Earth and about the Z Fighters, at topic the Salamander was frequently interested in; and Natsu would trade that information with any story about Fairy Tail that he knew Goten did not. There was one point where one of them mentioned the Keepers, but the other discouraged him; and they had talked about their friends from Earthland instead, until Natsu noticed the fish was nearly finished roasting.

"I think it's ready," He declared with suppressed eagerness, remembering how good it looked when he pulled it out the nearby river as he reached for one end of the spit; and he lifted the fish off the fire with both hands while Goten quickly went into the blue hut and grabbed some plates.

When he came back outside, he saw Natsu was eating the campfire like one long string of spaghetti while still holding up their dinner; and he smirked amusedly as he watched the Salamander completely extinguish the fire by consuming it.

"Pretty good," Natsu remarked before placing the fish back on the rotisserie and adding, "The fish should be even better… you wanna slice it up first?"

"You're the one that pulled it out the river," The demi-Saiyan reminded him, "You should have that honor."

"Fine by me." Natsu remarked eagerly while licking his lips, and he quickly got to work.

After a minute or so, the two were once again sat cross-legged in the grass while chowing down with full plates in their laps.

"Hey, Goten," The wizard had a thought, speaking between bites and swallows as he did, "How 'bout we see who can eat more of this fish before it's gone?"

"Okay," His friend agreed with some excitement, gulping down another chunk of fish before adding, "We should count by plates."

"Good idea," Natsu commented before wondering, "Are we starting right now?"

Goten nodded, and without another word, the pair rapidly accelerated their pace; and after ten or so minutes, only a skeleton of a fish remained resting on the spit.

"Mmm…" Goten almost purred in satisfaction as he finished his final plate, nearly having forgotten about their little challenge for a few seconds until Natsu spoke up.

"Man…" He whined in defeat while rubbing his bulging gut, "Maybe if I didn't eat that fire right before…"

Goten chuckled faintly before Natsu consoled himself.

"Well, at least Happy wasn't here to see me lose like that." He thought aloud, "Or any of the times I've lost here…"

Goten gave the pink haired wizard a sympathetic look as he continued to listen.

"Your dad beat me, you beat me every time we spar; and even Trunks beat me in that one fight we had last week. To be honest, I was kinda hoping I could win this; but I guess all that stuff Bulma and Gohan said about Saiyans is true. I knew you could eat a lot; but you did it so fast… I mean, you even stopped at one point so I could catch up!"

Goten gave him a weak smirk before replying.

"Yeah, Bulma and my brother weren't kidding about our appetites; but I doubt I'd beat you in a fire-eating contest."

Natsu smiled for a second after realizing his friend was trying to comfort him; and he did his best to clarify what he meant.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not all hung up about the losing streak; and I _really_ don't feel bad about losing to your dad. From the moment I got here, I've been learning so much… about Earth, about myself, about Saiyans, or about life in general… But I think the most important thing I've learned from all this time is how to lose."

Goten gave him a slightly puzzled look, so he continued his explanation.

"When my Igneel died fighting Acnologia, I abandoned nearly all of my friends so I could train. At the time, I thought I was out getting stronger for everyone at Fairy Tail's sake; but after I finally came back, I realized that a big part of why I left was actually because I was afraid to lose anyone else. I didn't bother to think about Lucy; and she lost Aquarius just before I lost Igneel. She could have easily went and trained with me and Happy, and she needed my help to grieve; but I didn't do any of that, I was too caught up in what I lost. I needed to deal with that fear of losing; and being here, losing constantly, it's helped. Even made me smarter, too; if you can believe it…"

"Oh, I do." Goten agreed, "I'm the one that's been training with you every other day of the week, after all. You've always had this kind of cleverness when it came to fighting; but I think, overall, you are getting smarter like you said."

"Thanks, man." Natsu accepted the compliment before remarking, "Now if only I could somehow use my Dragon Instinct form without fighting your dad, that would be amazing…"

"So that's what you're calling it?" The demi-Saiyan asked rhetorically before adding, "I like it."

"Yeah?" Natsu shrugged the second compliment aside with is own skepticism, "I mean, it is still Dragon Force; but it didn't seem right to call it that since it's on a totally different level."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I still haven't been able to use Ultra Instinct; and I've been trying for two months now." Goten reminded his friend in consolation.

"It helps." The wizard admitted agreeably, and the pair sat quietly for a second to savor the memory of their meal once more before Natsu sighed pleasantly and admitted something that slightly surprised Goten.

"I wish Lucy was here." He said quietly, and more to himself, "It woulda been nice, living out here with just her…"

"I didn't know you thought about that kinda stuff, Natsu." Goten commented, trying his best to not sound like he was teasing his friend.

"I usually don't." The fire mage conceded before revealing, "But sometimes, when Lucy was around, I would; and there are some pervy people at the guild, it's really hard to not think about that kinda stuff when they're around.

"But here, you all don't see your friends nearly every day like the people in Fairy Tail do; and when you guys talk about relationships and stuff, it's way different from how folks at Fairy Tail do."

Goten shrugged in agreement, knowing the exact people Natsu was probably referring to; and he remained quiet since he could tell the wizard had more to say.

"And back home, it was kinda hard to imagine living something close to a normal life, you know? But then I see the way Gohan and Videl live together, or your mom and dad, or Trunks and Lisanna; it's pretty easy to imagine what living the good life would be like after being around you guys."

Goten could hear the bittersweet tone in his friend's voice, and he was beginning to wonder why Natsu was bringing all of this up; after all, he wasn't usually this openly talkative.

"I can picture it now, which is good; but it hurts a little, too. Me, Lucy, and Happy might have the chance to run away from all the problems of Earthland; but what would that say about us, if we abandoned our friends? I'm sure you guys will beat Edo and the Keepers, but I have to fight my brother if I want everyone to be safe; and according to Edo, I'll die even if I manage to beat him… I know Lucy already loves me like I love her; but I can't let her get anymore invested, I can't give her hope of something better... not now."

Goten suddenly realized something as he listened to his friend's confession: in a few ways, both he and Natsu, by forces beyond their control, were being forced to distance themselves from the people they wanted to be with. But Goten's optimism refused to let him believe in his friend's grim fate.

"I know how you feel, Natsu," He replied sincerely, "But I don't think you should trust everything Edo said about you. Even when he's not lying, he mixes the truth up by playing word games, or by leaving things out. He did that when he was talking to me about Wendy…"

Now it was Natsu's turn to be surprised, since he knew Goten had been more than reluctant to talk about what happened on his birthday with anyone; and he patiently waited for the demi-Saiyan to keep speaking.

"If I knew what he actually meant when he said I could lose her, I wouldn't have gone over there. The thought of her being with someone else is painful enough; but I couldn't handle seeing her with Romeo in person, just as Edo hoped I wouldn't…"

Natsu was once again beginning to feel sorry for the young Saiyan; and in trying to put himself in his friend's place, he found he could never imagine that Lucy would fall for someone else, given that she seemed to be attracted to him since the day they met. The only thing the dragon slayer could imagine was how angry Goten must have been when he first found out about Wendy and Romeo.

"Iga tried to comfort me, but you heard all those things Edo said about him…" Goten confessed as he referenced Edo's party-crashing speech, "I did what Edo wanted: I got angry and tried to hurt Iga; and I didn't care how bad…I was so focused on what I could be losing that I wasn't thinking about my chances of winning; it the chances might be slim that Wendy will end up with me, but I'm going to believe in 'em anyway.

"And you should believe in yourself." Goten concluded with a smile, "With people like Wendy and Lucy, and everyone else we know on Earth and Earthland working together; there's no way we won't find a way to save you."

The two exchanged smiles before Goten suddenly sensed a familiar energy approaching from the west.

"Huh, Trunks is coming over…" He thought aloud, getting a little concerned when noticed the speed of their guest's approach, "I wonder what's he's in such a hurry."

Thinking the reason could have something to do with the Keepers, he quickly got up and hurried to his own house; and he looked through the place until he found the Nyoibo before taking it and heading back outdoors, leaving his mother and father slightly confused in the process.

By the time he was back outside and had the Nyoibo tied around his torso, Goten could see Trunks on the horizon; and he quickly moved to stand by Natsu, who met him halfway and waited with him in front of the little blue house until Trunks was in earshot.

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten called out with wave hello, believing the possibility of a threat even more when he noticed Trunks had the Brave Sword on his back, "What's up? Is it the Keepers?"

"Not exactly!" Trunks called back; so the confused duo waited until he landed before asking for an explanation.

"So why the rush to get over here?" Natsu asked before Goten could.

"I got a note from Master Iga," The older demi-Saiyan announced as he walked closer to his friends, "He said he and Vesta should have gathered six of the Dragon Balls by sometime tomorrow; but he's going to need our help getting the last one. According to Vesta, the Keeper Cosmos has it."

"Really?" Natsu questioned in surprised disappointment, but Goten was more interested in another piece of information his friend had casually revealed.

"Wait, did you say 'Vesta'?" He stepped slightly closer to his friend in order to show how curious he was, "Iga's dead wife?"

"You know about her?" Trunks replied with some surprise, and Goten nodded and answered while a confused Salamander listened to them.

"He told me about her after I fought him, right before ending my birthday party." He revealed with a hint of guilt in his tone, "She was killed by Edo; and the pain of that memory is why prefers to be called by his nickname."

"Well, he's getting over that, apparently." Trunks pointed out as he revealed another small detail about his master's note, "He signed it as 'Igneel'… But hang on, you fought my Master?"

"Yeah, I did." Goten scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he apologized, "I tried to hurt him really bad; and I wasn't thinking about what he meant to you back then. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry I avoided telling you what happened every time you asked about it."

"Oh, you don't need to apologize, Goten." Trunks reassured his best friend, moving closer and patting a hand on one of his shoulders, "I'm sure whatever Edo showed you made you pretty mad that night; and it finally answers my question about why Edo even bothered to give a speech about Iga that night. I'm really asking if you fought because I'd love to know if you learned of a way to beat him; Master told me that that was the main goal of my training under him, with the promise of a serious power up as a reward, too."

"Really?" Goten said, feeling surprised once again for a moment before continuing the conversation, "Well, to be honest, it wasn't much of a fight; and I could tell that he was holding back… That's another reason why I feel bad for what I did that night. But you said 'Vesta', right? How's she alive?"

"Oh, right." Trunks responded as he remembered his friend's question, "So, it turns out that she became the Keeper of Light at some point after she died; and after she fought Master Iga, she switched sides."

"Huh." Goten replied, feeling less surprised than he thought he should; he was more focused on a new thought he was having: _If Iga's wife died hundreds of years ago, and somehow still came back to him; there's no way I don't have a chance with Wendy…_

Trunks saw a weird grin forming on his best friend's face; and Natsu smirked knowingly upon seeing the face of pure inspiration, eagerly awaiting to hear whatever thought was running through the demi-Saiyan's mind.

"Um… Goten?" Trunks said with some hesitation, knowing the current expression on his friend's face usually led to them getting in trouble, "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"You said we only got a day to finish training, right?" Goten repeated the information in question form.

"Yeah, why?"

Before Trunks could get a response from him, Goten turned to hurry back to his house; but his grin widened when he saw the person he was looking for had come out to investigate the commotion.

"Dad," Goten asked his father as he walked halfway towards the Saiyan, "Has anyone ever tested the two-person rule with the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"

"I don't think so," Goku replied while confusedly scratching the back of his head, "I've never seen Dende let more than two people in at once."

"You didn't because you were dead when it happened." Trunks surprised the Saiyan as he chimed in, "We did it as Gotenks, remember? We were fighting Majin Buu, Piccolo was helping?"

"Oh, yeah!" Goten recalled after jogging his memory for a second, "That means we can have more than two people in there…"

"You're thinking we should train there?" Trunks guessed, adding his sole concern with the thought, "But, haven't we spent too much time there? We've definitely got less than a day left…"

"It doesn't matter if the exit closes on us or not." Goten assured him, though he only managed to confuse him, "We just need to be able to get in."

"Hey, guys?" Natsu reminded the pair of Saiyans he was still standing there, "What's a hyperba-sumthin' changer?"

"Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks repeated the phrase slowly for him before Goten also replied.

"It's a place where time moves way faster than in real life." He explained with his grin still present, "One day in the real world is the same as a year inside the Chamber."

Turning back to his father, who was still standing behind the trio while wondering if he should say anything; Goten quickly gave him a request, "Hey, Dad; can you take us to Dende's Lookout?"

"I guess…" Goku said slowly, but Goten ignored his father's confusion as he made everyone form a human chain; and in the next instant, the group was standing before Dende and Mr. Popo just outside the pair's home.

"Hey, guys." The young Namekian greeted them while Popo bowed to them respectfully; and the group of new arrivals noticed Dende seemed more nervous than surprised by their sudden appearance, "You're here to train… right?"

"That's right." Goten spoke first, but Trunks was still nervous about his friend's scheme; and seeing Dende nervous was not helping him.

"You heard what we were talking about, right?" The older demi-Saiyan asked, and the Namekian nodded before Trunks added, "Are you sure we can bring more than two people into the Time Chamber?"

"I think so," The Guardian of Earth answered slowly, scratching his forehead nervously as he did, "But no one's ever explained to me why the Time Chamber had the two-person limit… the door might not open to let three people out; but for all I know, it could one of the rules the Keepers created a long time ago. I mean, we did break the rule with letting Majin Buu in, and no one scolded me for that; but that could be because it was such an unusual situation… What do you think, Mr. Popo?"

"Well, Kami always followed the instructions of his predecessor very strictly," the genie responded thoughtfully, "So I never knew we could actually break the rule until our ordeal with Majin Buu; and it is as you said, sir, we were never reprimanded for our actions on that day. And no one used the door to get out then, either; so there's no way to know if it would have let any of them out or not."

"I hope it _is_ a rule the Keepers made up," Natsu chimed in, having finally finished taking in their surroundings just in time to hear talk about their enemies, "Because I'd really love to break it if it is!"

"We can ask Vesta if it is later. And if anyone is going to get in trouble for this; we'll make sure it's us." Goten said before politely asking Dende if he could lead them to their destination; and as soon as he agreed, Goku finally spoke up after having stayed awkwardly silent behind the two demi-Saiyans the whole time.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," He declared humorously, "Chi Chi is probably wondering where I went."

"Oh," Dende replied with some surprise, "You're not going to stay and train with them, Goku? You know that this kind of opportunity to train doesn't come up frequently."

"I was tempted to." Goku admitted, "But I don't really need to rush my training that bad; and no offense, but Chi Chi's cooking is way better than the food that's in there."

Dende smiled amusedly at the Saiyan's response, and he assured Goku he took no offense before the Saiyan said goodbye to everyone and disappeared.

"Alright," Dende said as soon as Goku was gone, "Lead the way, Mr. Popo."

The group soon entered the building atop the Lookout, with Natsu properly introducing himself to the two while they walked; and Popo gave him a tour guide's speech about the Lookout for the rest of the way to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. By the end of Popo's speech, Natsu only had one question.

"So, I get that we can do a lot of training in this Hyperbole Time Camper," He summarized his understanding of the mystical room; and Dende quietly flinched from his terrible butchering of the phrase's pronunciation.

"Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Goten and Trunks said simultaneously with a hint of impatience and embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure; whatever," Natsu playfully dismissed their correction before getting back to his question, looking at the large wooden door of the Chamber, "What I'm trying to say is: what kind of training are we going to do when we're in there?"

"Well, it's good you're immune to heat," Trunks volunteered some information, "And that you've fought Gray so much… The environment in there is not normal in any way; sometimes, it's like the room itself tries to find ways to put your body through stress. The further in you go, the more dangerous it can get."

"Sounds fun." Natsu remarked with poorly hidden sarcasm, "And we plan to spend a year in a place like that?"

"We sure do." Goten replied confidently before informing him, "And getting used to being in the room is the easy part; you'll be over that in a day, at the worst.

"But after we help you get your bearings; you, me, and Trunks are going to be fighting each other constantly; and you better be ready, Natsu, because Trunks and I can't afford to hold back. The only thing we can promise is that Trunks and I will do our best to make sure you don't die. And the only time we plan to take any kind of break is to eat and sleep; or if someone gets knocked out, then we put them in a bed and go back to it."

Natsu looked even less comforted by his words, so he added another, more optimistic piece of info.

"But, just surviving the training will make you a lot stronger; you might even get closer to that Dragon Instinct form from here. And Trunks…"

Turning to face his best friend, he revealed his plans for him and himself while even becoming visibly excited.

"I want us to reach the next level of Super Saiyan, so we're going to steal a trick that Gohan and my Dad used a long time ago: While we're in there, we're going to try to live as Blue Super Saiyans for the whole year."

Trunks was quietly surprised by the thought; but Dende gasped at the idea, with Mr. Popo looking faintly bothered by the concept as well.

"Goten," Dende tried getting him to see reason, "Don't you know how much stamina that form drains?! For a mortal to try to live even one day with the powers of a god is risky! You could die if you're not careful!"

"We'll be careful." Trunks promised Dende, though he was staring intently at Goten as he spoke; and the black-haired demi-Saiyan grinned eagerly, glad that someone was finally sharing his optimism. Reading the new vibe between the two Saiyans, Natsu found the excitement infectious; and he grinned the widest grin he had ever formed before speaking up.

"Well, what are we waiting for, guys? Let's get in there!" He cheered happily, "Oh, I can't wait… By this time tomorrow, we'll be total badasses!"

Dende opened the door for the trio, and the pair entered without a word before Dende closed the door behind them; at which point he saw the Lookout's caretaker was sweating nervously.

"What's wrong, Mr. Popo? I know there's only two beds in there, but I'm sure they'll figure it out." He questioned the genie curiously, who wiped the sweat off his forehead before replying.

"I'm not worried about the furniture, Dende, I'm worried about the entire Chamber! I know we've reinforced it since Vegeta kept destroying it; but I still think those three are going to break that room!"

 **Back at Mt. Paozu…**

Goku and Chi Chi were trying to eat a relatively romantic dinner alone, sitting in seats next to each other, for a change, as they eat; and they were having a rather personal conversation when their oldest son suddenly appeared standing just behind them.

"Gohan!" Chi Chi instantly scolded her son, "You cannot just pop into people's houses like that, especially since you live next door! Why do you even need to?!"

"Sorry, Mom!" Gohan quickly defended himself, "Trunks, Natsu, and Goten disappeared; and I'm trying to find out why!"

"Disappeared?" his mother replied with some concern, "What do you mean? Where did they go?"

"They're in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout." Goku revealed, slightly nervous his wife would get angry; but lucky for him, his son sighed dejectedly and spoke before anyone else could.

"Those three are so impulsive… They really could have used my help training in there.

"Wait, what am I saying?" He quickly questioned himself, "Can't you only put two people in the room at once?"

"That's the rule," Goku confirmed before adding with some confusion, "But they wanted to break the rule anyway, or something like that. I don't know if anyone actually cares if they break the rules though, so I let them go in…"

"And you didn't go with them?!" Chi Chi nearly yelled accusingly at her husband, though she was slightly disarmed by his response.

"Well, I didn't want to leave you by yourself without saying anything; that would have been rude."

His wife softened her glare at him as he spoke, and he looked back to his son before continuing.

"They also mentioned something about having one day to train; so I figured this would be the perfect time to for us to get one really good training session in!"

"Really?" Gohan asked, intrigued; and his father nodded before explaining.

"Really! I've been wanting to test out your new power ever since you came back; but you've been so busy lately, I never got a good chance to ask. You and I should fight all out, either now or early in the morning."

"You're not fighting anywhere near here!" Chi Chi reminded them with some force; and her husband quickly reassured her in response.

"Don't worry, Chi, we won't. We'll be fighting on the edge of space, like I did with Lord Beerus."

Chi Chi was not sure whether she should be reassured or frightened by what her husband was saying.

"And we both have Instant Transmission," He added after seeing the increasingly-nervous expression on his wife's face, "So no matter who wins or what shape they're in, they'll be able to catch the loser before he falls and take him to Korin's Tower to get healed."

"It's a solid plan." Gohan agreed aloud, mainly just to help his father in reassuring his mother before admitting, "And to be honest, I was a little jealous of Natsu and Goten when they got to fight you two months ago."

"Whatever you do," Chi Chi finally replied, sounding a little defeated as she did, "Just try to be careful, okay?"

"We will, Mom." Gohan promised before turning to his father, "If we only have one day before we have to fight the Keepers, we should do this sooner rather than later. You ready, Dad?"

"You bet I am," Goku almost cheered excitedly as he jumped out his seat, "Let's get going!"

Gohan nodded eagerly, though with less enthusiasm than his father; he knew how difficult this upcoming battle was going to be, and he was more focused on staying optimistic about his slim chances of success as he followed his father out the front door after saying goodbye to his mother.

 **Back on Earthland, in the Fairy Tail guild hall…**

Erza Scarlet was sitting by the middle of the bar, between a few of her teammates, as she chatted with them while they waited for the dinner. Despite a few protests from her recruits, her first order for the new team meant that everyone on it had to wake up around four in the morning; and since she knew she was essentially ruining all their nights by forcing them to have to sleep so soon, she decided she could at least treat them to a nice dinner before they went off to bed.

Wendy Marvell was sitting to Erza's left, with Carla, Happy, and Romeo Conbolt seated to the left of her; and Gajeel Redfox was sitting to Erza's right, with Pantherlily and Levy McGarden seated to his right. The group were chatting as they waited for their meals; and the solid-script mage was just starting to voice her one complaint about the selection of the two teams their guild master had created.

"I wish I was going to visit Sabertooth with you guys," She told the group sadly, though she began to sound happier the more she spoke, "But Mira's right about needing my help with her project; so it's really nice of you to be buying everyone dinner, Erza. It's been awhile since we've sat and ate together at the guild."

"Same." Romeo agreed, and he gestured to Wendy and Carla as he added, "We've been spending so much time in Crocus lately, it is pretty cool that we're finally relaxing here for a change."

"And I'm sure Erza's glad she came up with the idea," the Iron Dragon Slayer predicted impatiently, "Can we quit with all the niceness before it gets sappy? I don't wanna lose my appetite right before I eat…"

Romeo, Wendy, Happy, and Erza chuckled at his remark while Levy forced Pantherlily to scold him for his rudeness, though the dragon slayer easily shrugged off Levy and the Exceed's comments to him; and Carla spoke next by changing the subject.

"Regardless of how we feel about our current assignments, or our dining routines, we should be discussing how we'll fight Edo or one of his allies; because I'm sure we're only going to find them when they want to be found."

"Carla makes a good point, and that's even more of a reason to appreciate the 'sappy' moments, Gajeel." The black-fur feline finished scolding his partner, "We know that any fight with Edo's dark wizards will be very dangerous; and if we fought Edo himself there's a strong chance that some, if not most of us, could be seriously hurt or worse."

"Such a downer…" Happy sighed sadly; and the group was awkwardly silent for a moment as they processed the truth of the feline's words, until Wendy spoke up.

"Come on, you guys; we shouldn't be talking like that right now; we should be excited." The Sky Maiden told them well-concealed impatience, surprising everyone except Romeo and Carla with her over-confidence, "It's been so long since we've had a real challenge; we should be happy that we're about to take the fight to Edo! Besides, it would make for great training before we beat Zeref and Acnologia!"

Almost everyone that looked at Wendy while she spoke were able to quickly figure out by her mannerisms that she was imitating Natsu; but Erza, who simply smiled to herself as she continued to watch the door to the kitchen, did not need to see the sky mage's face to recognize Natsu's attitude in her tone. And the Knight slightly widened her smile when she finally saw the kitchen door open to reveal first Mirajane and then Kinana, with both women carrying the group's dinners to the bar just as Wendy finished cheering up her guildmates.

"Spoken like a true warrior." Erza remarked while watching Mirajane serve her and Gajeel.

"So cool… I could have sworn that I heard Natsu just now." Happy told the Sky Dragon Slayer as Kinana placed a few fish before him; and Wendy blushed from the two's compliments, feeling a mix of pride and embarrassment at being compared to one of her idols.

The team began to eat with their spirits raised, and they discussed much happier topics as they ate; but when a majority of the group had halfway finished their meals, a new commotion broke out as Mest Gryder suddenly appeared at the entrance to the guild.

"Erza!" He shouted in alarm as soon as he appeared, and he hurried over the bar area while addressing the Knight, "I know this is sooner than Master Makarov planned, but please tell me you've started to gather your team!"

"You're looking at it, pal." Gajeel informed him flatly; but Wendy and a few others were more concerned with their guildmate's behavior, so the Sky Mage was the next to speak.

"What's wrong, Mest?" She asked for the group.

"There's been an attack at Akane Beach, and Edo's the one that ordered it," He answered quickly, causing most of the attentive group to nearly leap out their seats in surprise at the name, "We don't know why, but his people have taken over the resort; and they've killed most of the people that were staying there!"

"Those bastards…" Romeo grumbled angrily, about to say more until Wendy put a hand on one of his arms to successfully calm him; and Mest continued to detail the current emergency before making his request for aid.

"I gave Crime Sorciere a lacrima with some of my magic inside it, so they should be recruiting help from Sabertooth as we speak. I can say more when we get to the rendezvous point we mapped out; but I need anyone that wants to help, and I need them now."

Before anyone sitting at the bar could volunteer, Erza stood up before speaking while looking at her team.

"I hope you all have eaten enough, because our work will begin much sooner than we thought; Team Slayer-Hunters, I'm sure you know what your new orders are."

Happy grinned upon hearing Erza officially adopt the team's moniker he suggested to the group earlier, and he joined the rest of his teammates in forming a human chain.

"It might take us a bit longer to reach our destination since there's so many of us, it's limiting the range of my magic." Mest informed them as the team moved into position and held hands, "Don't worry, though, it won't seriously slow us down. Is everyone ready?"

Just before everyone replied to him, Levy latched onto Gajeel's free arm; and the Iron Dragon Slayer immediately began to protest her decision.

"What're you doing, short-stuff?" He said teasingly as he began to remind her, "You're not a part-"

"It doesn't matter if I'm on your stinking team. He said 'anyone'!" the script mage interrupted while tightening her grip on his arm. In response, Gajeel looked to Mest and Erza, hoping either one of them would help him; but the two simply shrugged neutrally.

"I did say 'anyone'." Mest conceded, and Levy grinned while Gajeel grumbled to himself before the teleport mage asked if everyone was ready one final time. The entire group nodded before vanishing the next second, leaving Mirajane to be the only one standing near the bar; and she vented some of her annoyance at the group's early and unexpected departure, focusing particularly on the manner of their exit.

"Sure, Levy, you can go ahead and help them; it's not like my team needs you or anything… Why does Erza always get the popular jobs?"

 **On a mountain peak overlooking Akane Resort…**

Jellal Fernandes, Erik, Sawyer, and Macbeth of Crime Sorciere were standing next to Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, and Yukino Agria of Sabertooth as they all surveyed the northern side of the resort while they waited through a mostly awkward silence, until the Poison Dragon Slayer had heard enough of the younger men's skeptical thoughts.

"Not all of us want to be here, either; you know!" He informed them bitterly, "And it's kinda hard to listen to what's going on in there, when you two kids are here with all your whining!"

"We weren't saying anything!" Sting argued back, annoyed more than his friend was at being called a child, "If you don't want to hear our thoughts, than quit listening to them!"

"There's no on and off switch for my ears!" the poison wizard retorted, "If you can tell me that you know how to selectively turn off your hearing, then maybe I'll give it a try. But until then, you two need to get over whatever you got against us; because I'm not sure if you noticed, but, we're here to help you, numbskull!"

"And you should be more respectful when you're talking to the master of my guild." Rogue calmly defended his friend; and Sting grinned with pride until Erik argued with the shadow mage as well.

"Heh, I'm glad you told me," He chuckled humorously, "Otherwise, I'd have assumed he was the whiny brat that he sounds like."

"I have no problem warming up for this fight by kicking the crap out of you, old man!" Sting quipped angrily as he took a step towards the former dark wizard; until Yukino quickly moved between them.

"That's enough, Master; it doesn't matter what you're thinking." She faced Sting first, putting a reassuring hand on his chest and adding, "And it doesn't matter what he thinks, either.

"And you," She said next as she spun around and looked at Erik, "Do you think Master Sting or Rogue are going to feel better about working with you if you're going to be so rude to them?"

The Poison Dragon Slayer had nothing to say to that; and his will to argue eventually died when Jellal finally spoke up.

"She's got you there, Erik." He told his guildmate with a smirk, "Besides, you know that we can't judge people for every negative thought they have. There are some exceptions to the rule, but it's a person's words and deeds that they should be judged by; and that's it."

"Thank you." Sting replied with grateful relief, about to add more to say thanks when the group of Fairy Tail wizards finally appeared.

"It's about time." Sawyer commented with a mix of relief and annoyance, but everyone mainly ignored his comment as Jellal greeted Mest and his guildmates.

"I'm impressed," He said as he looked between Erza and the teleport mage, "You managed to gather this many people in such a short amount of time."

"We were lucky," Mest explained briefly, "Erza had gathered her team for a meal just before we heard about what was happening here."

"What is happening here?" Erza got straight to business before any of her less patient teammates could.

"I told them everything I know," Mest added to Jellal in order to save time, "But we were hoping you could learn more before we got here."

"I ran around the outside earlier," Sawyer informed the new arrivals, "But I couldn't see anything no matter where I looked."

"And I can't hear many unusual sounds coming from inside, but none of the attractions have stopped since we got here; and they are extremely noisy. I hate amusement parks…" Erik chipped in, whining about his sensitive hearing for a moment before getting back on topic.

"I think there's only one person in there now," He concluded, though his final statement only created more questions from everyone, "But there's something weird going on: if I focus my hearing as best I can, I think I can hear something moving; and it's a whole lotta of somethings, if I'm not imagining things."

"Something?" Happy repeated, sounding slightly nervous as he asked, "What do you mean by 'something'?"

"It means I don't know what to call them." The poison wizard replied with a hint of frustration, "Whatever they are, their movements don't sound like normal humans."

"Wait, if that's true," Mest suddenly pointed out, "Then, our main witness' story is more reliable than we thought. We thought Zancrow might have just been toying with her, or that he was hoping she'd give us false information."

"Hey, everyone…" Wendy suddenly called out from ahead of them, and the rest of the group realized they were so focused on the conversation that the Sky Maiden had already begun to work while she listened to their conversation.

Only the top half of her body was visible to the group, as Wendy had apparently begun to climb down towards the giant red letters built onto the face of the mountain that spelled out 'AKANE RESORT'; and she had seen something very bizarre before she could try jumping onto one of the letters, instead deciding to climb halfway back up and calling for her friends' attentions before doing anything else.

"Wendy, what are you doing over there?!" Carla demanded in concern, but Rogue answered for the Sky Maiden as he began to walk over to Wendy with his guildmates in tow.

"She's doing what we should have been doing while you guys got caught up." He pointed out while gesturing to himself and Sting, "We didn't have to be standing right next to you guys to hear the conversation."

"And what?" Sting added humorously, "You're worried about 'The Sky Maiden' falling off of something? Heh."

Carla transformed into her human form before responding, slightly surprising the group of Sabertooth wizards as she argued back, despite appearing slightly embarrassed; she even walked towards Sting and tried to stare him down after getting in front of him.

"Listen, you, I will worry about Wendy however much I want; is that clear?"

Wendy blushed faintly at her friend's stubborn loyalty before interrupting them.

"We don't have time to argue anymore, Carla! You guys need to be looking at that!"

Everyone looked towards the giant, white-frame Ferris wheel she was pointing at; but only a few of her allies responded the way she expected they would.

"What is that thing?" Sting wondered with interest, and Yukino replied first.

"I'm not sure," She said honestly, "It's really dark-colored, and I don't have good eyesight like you do…"

"I don't see anything." Gajeel declared from the back of the group, slightly confusing Wendy and Sting in the process; until Levy moved closer to Yukino before speaking up next.

"No, I think I do see something." The script mage stated, "There is something dark-colored moving on top that ride."

Carla, after returning to her feline form, flew with Happy to be at Wendy's side, and they both gasped at the sight while Romeo tried to get as close to them as he could without having to climb down.

"What?" He questioned them as soon as he walked as close as he could, "Do you see what they're seeing? Because I can't see anything."

"It's some kind of creature," Carla answered first, "But it doesn't look like any monster I've ever seen."

"It's looks like some kinda ghost..." Happy did his best to explain, starting to feel spooked with every observation he was making, "Like, I don't think it has a solid body; it looks like it's made out of some sorta black mist or something…"

"Sounds creepy." Erik remarked humorously before changing to a more serious tone, "Wish I could see it, but I can hear it moving; so, you guys are not hallucinating."

"It must have a solid body, though," Levy speculated, "It wouldn't be climbing on things if it didn't…"

"And I wouldn't hear its movement the way I do if it didn't have a solid figure, either." The poison mage added his deduction to hers, which prompted Jellal to speak up.

"Then before we do anything else, we need to figure out who among us can see this creature and who cannot. After that, we'll begin to try to figure why only some of us can see it; it's likely Zancrow would know something about that."

"We already know Wendy, Happy, Carla, Levy, and our friends from Sabertooth can see it," Erza helped Jellal with getting his tally, "But can anyone else?"

"I can." Pantherlily spoke up, but he was the only other person to do so; though Erza noted that Macbeth seemed to be asleep, so she decided to ask him later before Jellal spoke again.

"Okay," He said thoughtfully as he began to form a strategy, "We'll need to split up by pairing people who can see the creature with people that can't; however, since none of us in Crime Sorciere seem capable of spotting this monster, we will focus on taking down Zancrow. We only need two people that can see the creature to come with us."

"I'm going." Happy quickly volunteered, "If this guy had something to do with Natsu getting kidnapped, then I want a piece of him myself."

"I will join up with Pantherlily, Gajeel, and Levy, then." Erza announced next.

"And I'll come with you to provide another set of eyes." Rogue told the Knight, who nodded in consent to his offer.

"Then I'll go with you guys to take down Zancrow," Sting decided aloud before looking to Yukino, "You should go with Wendy or Erza's group; we've already got a bit of a crowd trying to go after this one guy."

"If we get split up, you can stick with me and Romeo if you want, Yukino." Wendy offered the celestial mage, who kindly accepted before Wendy turned to her female Exceed companion, "And I'm guessing that you're going wherever I go?"

"I sure am." Carla confirmed with a smile.

"Then that settles it." Jellal declared before turning to Mest, "You should probably head for the nearest Council headquarters and do what you have to; we all know the drill by now."

"Right." The teleport mage agreed before saying goodbye, "Good luck, everyone."

As soon as Mest had vanished, Jellal turned to Erza and spoke again.

"You and Wendy's group should get a closer look at the monster atop the Ferris wheel; maybe those that can see it will be able to discern more about it's nature. From Erik's description of the sounds inside the main building, we know that there will be more creatures like it inside there. We can handle any we may run into on our way to Zancrow, but the rest of you should be careful and take your time to learn about our enemy as you retake the place. And take one of these, they're communication lacrima."

"Understood." Erza replied as she caught a magic orb that he tossed to her, masking the fact that she was annoyed with Jellal for putting himself at the most risk once again; and Jellal tossed another lacrima to Yukino while Erza continued to speak calmly to her current partners.

"Let's get a move on, folks." She ordered them, "The resort's not going to save itself."

"But how are we getting down?" Levy questioned, not seeing the eager grins appearing on a few of her guildmates' faces as she asked, "We're on the top of a mountain!"

"That's easy." Gajeel said with a smirk before lifting her up without warning, and he jumped off the peak while running and yelling, "We'll get down like this!"

"Carla, take Yukino," Wendy ordered her partner next before she grabbed Romeo around the waist and began to hover while he tried to hide the fact that he was blushing from the sudden closeness with his crush. The four quickly followed Gajeel down before Pantherlily grabbed a hold of Erza while Rogue nodded farewell to Sting before turning into a shadow and following Gajeel his own way down.

"Try to be careful, Jellal." Erza told her friend caringly, and she fought off her sense of embarrassment when she saw his cheeks redden at her words.

"You should know that that's impossible by now." Jellal did his best to alleviate her concerns with a joke before adding, "Just stay focused on leading your team, and we'll all be just fine. We can't let Edo play any more of his mind games on us."

Erza nodded before Pantherlily lifted her into the air; and Jellal turned to his guildmates as the two flew away.

"Macbeth, time to wake up." He said before getting to his real orders for them, tossing the third of his four lacrima to Sting as he continued to speak.

"Happy, you're with me and Sawyer. Everyone else will stick with Sting once we're inside; you might not like it, but he is your extra set of eyes for tonight, so get used to him."

Erik did not have to look at Jellal to know who he was looking and speaking to, so he merely frowned in response before once again listening to his guild master as he gave orders.

"We're going to split up and search the important areas inside while our friends investigate the monster; we will probably run into its kin, but our focus should be on finding and capturing Zancrow. All our intel points to him being in direct control of them at the moment, so if we can subdue him, and if none of his allies interfere; we should be able to bring an end to this situation. As soon as we find Zancrow, we signal everyone; and we'll reinforce whoever engages him first."

"Hey, boss," Erik suddenly chimed in, "I don't think we're going to have to do much searching to find him."

To the entire group's surprise, they turned to look behind them where the poison mage was looking; and they all saw Zancrow standing before them, having just casually walked out a portal to greet them.

"How convenient." Jellal remarked before Zancrow grinned and replied.

"Jellal! It's so good to see you!" He feigned happiness at the sight before asking him jokingly, "What brings you over to my new home, and with so many guests?"

"Cut the act, Zancrow." Jellal confronted him immediately, "You're going to tell me why you did this; and then you're going to tell me everything about your Master."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" The Flame God Slayer mocked him instead of answering, "Please, you wouldn't want to hurt Meldy like that; and you're all just getting over your old habit of killing people anyway. I guess this is kinda like offering a beer to a recovering alcoholic; you guys want to kill me, but you know it'd be better if you didn't…"

"I got no problem punching you in the face, though!" Sting retorted before charging towards Zancrow, who easily leapt away from the punch that was thrown at him; and he silently complained to himself as he landed a safer distance from Sting. He was angry that Sabertooth and Fairy Tail wizards showed up, knowing that they were unintentionally tampering with the quality of his Master's experiments while also knowing he could not back down; and he had to remember what he told himself earlier: he had to be merciless.

"Come on, Master Eucliffe," Zancrow teased the Sabertooth mage, "Surely you're faster than that?"

"You want fast?" Sawyer shouted at the dark wizard, taking a ready-to-run stance before rushing straight at him; and Zancrow easily dodged the attacks that followed.

"How is he that fast?!" Sawyer wondered angrily after giving up his attempt at a direct attack, "Is my magic not working?!"

"It is." Zancrow revealed with a smirk, "But my Master's power is so great that it defies time in ways you can only begin to imagine! Only a god would stand a chance here…"

"Even if your power is as great as you say it is," Jellal responded calmly, "You will not be able to defeat all of us."

Zancrow's face flickered with annoyance for a second before Jellal added an offer to the dark wizard.

"Surrendering now would save us all a lot of time; and it guarantees your safety. Stand down right now, and you can join Crime Sorciere with a slap on the wrist; you're only real punishment will be having to take orders from me."

"That's a solid offer, pal; I think you should take it." Erik chimed in with barely-mustered confidence, quietly hiding the fact that he could not hear Zancrow's thoughts. To be more accurate, he was physically able to hear the Flame God Slayer's thoughts; but he could also hear something closer to white noise as well. There was occasionally Edo's voice, but that other noise was constant; and it was much louder than any thought Erik had ever heard, making it very . He wondered if Edo had to train Zancrow mentally on how to remain in control of his own thoughts; and he stared intensely at Zancrow as soon as their eyes met, hoping to not show his sudden lack of confidence.

The God Slayer listened to the pair for half a second, at the most, before he had suddenly heard his Master speaking in his head; as Edo decided to give his pupil a strategy, seeing that this little 'field test' of his had now escalated into a full-on battle.

 _Well, it certainly seems like you could use some assistance… I suppose your best move here would be to split them up; use my power to scatter them around the resort, and let my Enenra wear them down before you finish them off…_

Not realizing Zancrow was busy conversing with his Master, Jellal spoke up again.

"You're only getting this offer once, Zancrow." He warned the dark mage, "Meldy would not want us to fight you; and I know she wouldn't-"

"Don't you dare talk about her!" The Dark Flame God Slayer interrupted angrily, "Not NOW! Dark Fire God's Scythe!"

Before Jellal could realize his mistake, Zancrow quickly put his hands together while preparing to focus all three forms of his power into a different facet of his upcoming attack; and in the next moment, he began to create a rather large, dark, and fiery scythe that he drew from his left hand with his right.

"Zancrow!" Jellal shouted with a hint of desperation before Sting had had enough; and he launched back at the dark wizard with an angry yell as he tried to punch Zancrow.

"White Dragon's Holy Fist!"

"Sting, wait!" Jellal warned his ally at the last second; but Zancrow was too quick for anyone to react. And with one spinning swipe of his scythe, he sent solid black flames flying all around him, which simultaneously forced everyone backwards and burned them with intense heat; but none of the people shielding themselves from the attack expected to have a dark portal suddenly appear behind them, sending them to random locations inside the resort. Even Macbeth shouted in confused protest as his reflect magic failed him, though the portal sealing behind him muted his complaints to the others still left on the mountaintop.

Only Jellal, Happy, and Sting were able to avoid getting sent away; but Sting did not dodge the attack like Jellal and the Exceed. His closer proximity to Zancrow's attack led to him getting sliced across his left side and slightly across the front of his abdomen as well; and Sting felt intense pain as a small section of one of his ribs was sliced away before the heat of the scythe partially cauterized the wound it caused before he could reflexively leap away.

"Sting!" Happy shouted in concern as soon as he could see the dragon slayer's singed and slow-bleeding injury, "Are you alright?!"

Zancrow had remained standing where he was, but he released his hold on the scythe as he dismissed it from existence; and he stared at the blue feline before replying.

"Relax, furball, I only grazed him!" Zancrow laughed as he spoke, "Though I could have taken the idiot's lung out if had gotten any closer. Ha! What a shame that would have been…"

"What do we do, Jellal?!" Happy quickly and quietly asked, "We're gonna do something, right?!"

"Stay calm, Happy." The former Wizard Saint said as he took as ready stance and removed his dark-blue cloak, "Now, grab onto Sting so you fly together and follow my lead, just like you did with Natsu."

While Happy complied and grabbed onto his current partner's back as soon as he flew over to him, Jellal focused his magic into casting his first spell.

"Meteor!"

As soon as he began to radiate with a familiar golden light, Jellal looked to Sting and shouted as he began to hover off the ground thanks to Happy.

"Sting, remember that your power can weaken his if you use it correctly! Go full power and follow my lead, otherwise we're not making it out of here alive!"

Sting nodded cooperatively, having now realized his overconfidence; but Zancrow responded to their scheming with another attack meant for Jellal, firing a large amount of solid black fire and energy from his mouth with a yell.

"Dark Flame God's Bellow!"

The attack forced Jellal to leap straight into the air to avoid the attack; and Jellal quickly countered by creating a magic seal before himself, with Happy quickly figuring out what he was trying to do.

"Sting, now!" Jellal shouted as he and Happy began to dart around in the sky above Zancrow, who had to turn and face the dragon slayer before he could deal with his flying attackers.

"Over here, chump!" Sting taunted before firing his own attack after activating his Dragon Force powers, "White Dragon's Roar!"

Focusing his power into his right hand, Zancrow met the white beam of magic light head-on with an attack of his own.

"Dark Fire God's Explosive Flame!"

Zancrow was the first to be surprised, as he initially felt resistance when he tried to push a dark sphere through Sting's attack; but then Sting was next to be surprised as Zancrow's counterattack shot through his spell after only an instant's delay, rocketing like a spherical, black bullet train through a bright white tunnel. A second later, the modestly sized sphere collided with Sting's chest before expanding into an absurdly large explosion that singed him and sent him flying sideways.

The wizard in the sky had finished his task just as the black, fiery explosion detonated; and Zancrow looked up to them only after Jellal had started firing his first attack.

"Grand Chariot!"

Seven solid beams of golden light rained directly onto the ground, forming the familiar constellation on the ground beneath Zancrow before causing it to erupt violently in seven separate, golden explosions.

Knowing that his first attack was certainly not enough to win the fight, Jellal used his magic power to dive straight towards Zancrow before the smoke could clear; and he attempted to punch and kick the dark wizard a few times, though Zancrow parried them with ease. Getting slightly nervous, Jellal leapt back a few feet while drawing his right arm back and aiming his left palm at Zancrow with a shout.

"Nine Lightning Stars!"

As soon as he spoke, nine blades of radiant golden light formed behind Jellal; and then he jumped forward while swinging his right arm at Zancrow, causing the nine swords to go flying into the dark wizard and resulting in nine rapid explosions.

On the far side of the crater that was created by the attack, Happy and Sting finished recovering as the last of the nine explosions ended; and they waited with their ally for the smoke to clear while preparing for another counterattack from the dark wizard, until the lacrima in one of Jellal's pockets started to speak to him.

"Jellal, can you hear me?" They heard Erza's voice coming from the magic orb, "What's going on up there?"

Scolding himself for forgetting about the lacrima, Jellal reached into his pocket before quickly activating it and responding.

"We've found Zancrow and are fighting him now, but only Sting and Happy are with me; Zancrow sent my guildmates somewhere… and none of them have a communication lacrima, either."

"We'll focus on trying to find them," They heard Yukino's voice add to the conversation, "I can sense their magic powers are still nearby."

"I can too," Jellal realized aloud, having been too busy fighting Zancrow to focus his magic sense on anything else, "Judging by how much magic energy they're putting out, they're also in the middle of a fight."

"We're already running their way!" They heard the celestial mage announce before Erza spoke again.

"Jellal, my group is coming to you; so just keep Zancrow occupied until we arrive!"

"No!" Jellal argued to everyone's surprise except Erza's, "You need to stay focused on retaking the resort and learning about our new enemy!"

He guessed Erza must have knew he was only going to argue more, there was a brief silence before she replied.

"Very well… My team will follow Wendy's inside the resort, then."

Before Jellal could thank her for cooperating, the three guild wizards on the mountaintop heard Zancrow laughing hysterically.

"You can't be serious!" He taunted the former Wizard Saint as the smoke revealed him to be totally unharmed by all their attacks, "Did you actually just turn down your reinforcements?! Hah! You're dumber than I thought!"

"There's not a scratch on him…" Happy observed nervously.

"Don't worry, little guy, we'll put a few on him eventually." Sting assured him, acting more confident than he really was, "We just gotta wear him down a bit, first."

"Good luck with that!" Zancrow remarked amusedly before growing tired of their underestimating him; and he held his open hands horizontally over each other before his chest, creating a small sphere of black fire and energy between them.

"Dark Fire God's Kagutsuchi…" He yelled as he raised both hands and swung them back down, aiming directly at Sting with both palms; and the dark orb rapidly expanded and moved toward the low-flying duo, who quickly flew higher to successfully dodge the blast.

Zancrow moved to leap after the pair, but Jellal interrupted with another attack of his own.

"Pleiades!" He shouted while raising his right hand to the sky; and from it, six rays of golden light streaked towards Zancrow, colliding with him to create six more rapid explosions.

Seeing an opportunity to attack, Sting and Happy continued ascending as Jellal's attack descended from the heavens; and just as the first of the six explosions went off, Sting fired off another spell.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!" He roared while Happy did his best to hover in place as his partner fired an even larger beam of white light at their enemy; and a seventh, much larger, explosion occurred before the smoke from the previous six began to clear.

"Did we get him?" Happy asked his partner, who shook his head in response. Sting knew that last attack would have sent Zancrow flying if it was not blocked; and judging by the laughter that soon came from inside the dissipating smoke, Zancrow had certainly shielded himself from the attacks.

"Now that's a little better!" The dark wizard complimented them as he hovered in place, looking between the two above him and the one below him with a smug grin as he spoke, "But you're going to have to do better if you want to actually impress me!"

"You want better?!" Jellal argued back, and he crossed his hands above his head as he formed his next spell, "Altairis!"

A large golden magic circle flashed above Jellal's hands for an instant before it changed it the familiar black hole-like orb that expanded rapidly as it attempted to pull everything around it towards itself; and then it launched towards Zancrow after Jellal quickly aimed his hands at the dark wizard, who boldly charged straight for it and punched it with his right fist. The resulting explosion forced Happy to put some effort into maintaining his and Sting's altitude while Jellal had to shield his face from dirt and debris; and by the time they had returned their focus to their enemy, they saw through the clearing smoke that he was still completely unharmed.

"I'll admit it, Jellal," the trio heard Zancrow mock the former Wizard Saint, "That was better!"

"I guess I can turn things up a notch," He added while stretching his arms and legs in a showy fashion, "Just don't complain to me when you get killed, though; you've had plenty of chances to run by now…"

Finished warming up, Zancrow increased his power level slightly before raising his open right hand above his head; and a jet-black sphere of ki and flames, matching the size of Jellal's previous spell, appeared above him as he spoke.

"Okay, Jellal… let's see how you like a real attack!"

 **In the Shadow of the World…**

Edo and Cel Rhea were sitting together on the edge of his bed, watching their own brand of television. The Dark God had created a portal on the wall across the room from them; and then he shrunk the room to bring the wall closer to the foot of the bed, while Cel had used some of her ki to cook some popcorn where she sat. The portal showed them the ongoing battle at Akane Resort, at first mainly displaying Zancrow's efforts; but Edo soon wanted to monitor the status of his creations, changing the portal's image to show the several scuffles playing out like changing channels on a T.V. Occasionally he would stop to witness something interesting before moving onto to resume watching another fight; but eventually Cel had an interesting suggestion.

"Hey, this is fun and all," she said quietly while keeping an eye on the portal as she munched on some of her snack food, "But I just thought something that might make this really interesting!"

"Oh, really?" Edo replied with an amused smirk as he leaned in closer to her, "Do tell…"

Cel pressed her side against his and brought her lips close to his ear before whispering into it; and Edo's grin widened as he listened, waiting until she was finished speaking before responding to her.

"Cel my dear," He praised her enthusiastically, "Sometimes, you're more devious than even I am! I love it!"

 **In the massive basement of Akane Resort…**

Wendy, Romeo, Yukino, and Carla had just made their way down from the first floor when they heard the start of a fight breaking out from somewhere ahead of and below them; so without thinking to stop and enjoy the vibrant scenery of the casino they had just entered, the group hurriedly ran towards the sound. Wendy and Carla were the quickest; and they reached the nearest balcony railing before quickly looking down onto the main floor of the casino, just as Yukino and Romeo caught up to them.

Romeo saw the Poison Dragon Slayer from Crime Sorciere attempting to fend off some invisible foe; but he quickly guessed the other three people with him were more than likely seeing another one of Edo's creatures.

"He's fighting another one of those things, isn't he?" He asked them quickly, getting nods from all three in return; and before the four could react to what they were seeing, they heard Erik shout out to them.

"Idiots, turn around, there's more than one in here! It's an ambush!"

Wheeling around as soon as the former dark wizard began to yell at them, Wendy spun on her heels and fired a light-blue ki blast from her right hand, directly at the shadowy creature she had sensed leaping towards her and her friends even before the warning she was given; and the black shadow creature recoiled in pain as the small blast detonated on its face and knocked it prone onto its back, though it quickly recovered and leapt away while returning to its mist-like form.

"You gotta wait for them to attack before you can!" The four heard Erik yell over to them as he did his best to dodge another attack from the Enenra he was battling, "Or catch 'em off-guard, if you can!"

"We know!" Romeo informed him quickly, "We helped Erza's group take out the first one we met outside!"

"Well isn't that swell?!" Erik shouted back sarcastically before leaping away from the creature and swiping an arm before himself to create a cloud of purple poison in an expanding forward arc, which made creature back away from him as he intended before adding, "Now, can one of you get down here and lend me a hand! I'm having some difficulty predicting its moves, and not being able to see it isn't helping!"

"Coming!" Yukino called back, and she quickly leapt over the balcony railing before smoothly landing on the ground below and hurrying over to her ally.

"Romeo, Carla, go with her and help them." Wendy told her guildmates stood behind her as she stared down the Enenra, "I can handle this one by myself."

Carla hesitated for a moment, but she quickly complied and flew after Yukino; but Wendy noticed that Romeo had remained where he was, briefly glancing towards him just as he replied to her.

"Sorry, Wendy," He apologized for his disobedience before adding, "But I'm sticking with you, no matter what happens."

Ignoring the fact that she was faintly blushing, Wendy quickly looked back to the creature; and she noticed that it appeared to be finished sizing up its threats before it began to randomly leap around the area before them.

Finding a pattern in the monster's movement as she tracked it, Wendy quickly gave her partner an order before it could find an opening in her defense.

"Romeo, now!"

Mimicking a sweeping attack that he saw Rogue and Gajeel use to attack the first creature they encountered, Romeo created a wide-arcing wave of purple fire; and as the creature became solid in order to leap away as Wendy expected, she focused a decent amount of ki and magic energy into one well-placed attack.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

The Sky Maiden shouted as she jumped over the creature before clawing at the top of its head with her right hand; and she smirked triumphantly when her attack connected. The keenly focused wind at her fingertips sliced through its head; and the ki she combined into her attack gave her slashing an additional, explosive effect, causing the top half of the Enenra's body to be blown away from the resulting light-blue explosion.

Wendy landed and leapt away from the creature before quickly turning around to see the top half of it's body was slowly regenerating; and that it had reflexively returned to its shadow form upon taking damage, which slightly annoyed Wendy as she confirmed one of her allies' theories about Edo's monsters.

"Carla was right, we do have to take these things out in one shot." She told her partner as she watched the Enenra finish regaining its body, trying to form a new strategy as she did.

Figuring out what she needed to do, Wendy gave a Romeo a look that was familiar to him; and he smirked faintly before nodding in silent agreement. The Sky Maiden replied by quickly raising both hands before herself and chanting the activation of three of her spells.

"Arms, Armor, Vernier!"

A bright blue magic circle appeared both beneath Romeo and before Wendy's hands as she casted the enchantments, and they both soon began to feel the vast improvement in their powers as soon as the circles faded from sight. Wendy watched the Enenra the entire time; and she noticed that its posture slightly changed as they powered up, seeming to have taken a more cautious stance in response.

Before either of the wizards could perform an attack, the creature surprised them by revealing one of its few curse abilities. Waving an arm at the pair, the black mist of its arms rapidly exploded forward in a similar fashion to Romeo's last attack; but the more shocking part of the Enenra's attack was that Romeo was able to see the incoming cloud of black mist, which he hesitated to dodge amidst his surprise and confusion. Luckily, Wendy had just staggeringly enhanced his agility; so he was able to leap away with her at the last possible instant, leaping over the balcony railing behind them and landing safely on the floor below.

"Well at least I can see some of its attacks…" Romeo remarked optimistically as he and his partner looked back up to the railing they had just vaulted over. Wendy was slow to respond, having been more focused on trying to relocate their opponent first; and after not seeing it appear on the balcony above, she quietly listened to their surroundings and used her magic senses to track the monster. It took her a second, but she was able to figure out where the Enenra was, and what it was doing.

"It's running!" She quickly informed her partner, and she quickly leapt back onto the balcony before Romeo could react.

"Wendy, wait!" He shouted with some concern as he jumped after her, though she ignored him and continued her rapid pursuit, which led back towards the stairs they used on the way in. Romeo was worried the creature might have been luring her into another kind of trick or ambush, and that Wendy was easily taking the bait; but as soon as she was in the stairway with the Enenra just above her, the Sky Maiden promptly surprised her partner by yelling at the creature.

"Try dodging this one, monster! Sky Dragon's Wave Wind!"

Romeo had to suddenly stop his chase and take a few cautionary steps backwards as he saw his partner create a massive tornado inside the relatively small stairwell; but then he had to leap backwards to a much safer distance, as he could feel the intense vacuum-like effect of the wind rushing up the stairs.

Near the top of the stairs, the Enenra was about to leap through the entryway to the first floor when their stairway beneath suddenly became an extreme type of wind tunnel; and it found itself in a predicament with no clear way to dodge the Sky Maiden's attack.

Wendy smirked as she flew with the air current to catch up, and she was in view of the creature in an instant before seeing that it had decided to remain in its solid form; but its choice had resulted in it getting pinned against the wall by the intense gale-force winds.

"I was wondering what form you'd choose," She said as she maintained the air's intense current to keep her target pinned, thinking aloud more than actually talking to anyone, "You must be afraid that my spell would split your shadow form apart beyond repair…

"Thing is, you were going to be destroyed either way." she added as she aimed a hand at the creature and created a cyan ki sphere that was slightly bigger than the monster, "I don't normally like killing, even most monsters are just doing what they think is right; but you seem smarter, and eviler, than the usual monster. After all the innocent people you've harmed, I have no problem with doing this!"

The Enenra let out a defiant screech as it tried to resist the pinning gust and leap away from the danger; but Wendy silenced it by firing the ki blast, which detonated on impact. The smoke and debris from the blast was swept away in the wind before Wendy smiled when she saw the only thing remaining from where her attack landed was a massive hole in the wall, and she quickly ended her spell after sensing no trace of the creature she had slain. Romeo noticed the air current's immediate return to normal, and he hurried up the stairs as soon as he could to greet her halfway.

"Did you get it?" He asked quickly while trying to hide how relieved he was to see she was unharmed.

"I think so." She confirmed, resuming her jog down the stairs before adding, "But we should get back to Carla and the others."

"Good idea." He agreed while smirking and following her, "I'd hate to waste the power-up you gave me, anyway."

"Don't worry, you won't." She told him after giving him an amused smirk of her own, "I've got more than enough magic power to keep these enchantments active for the whole night."

"Good to know…" He said thoughtfully before they finally arrived at the upper level of the casino once again; but they both quickly noticed that there was no longer any sounds of battle coming from below, causing both of them to instinctively hurry to the balcony railing to investigate.

They were relieved to see Carla, Yukino, and Erik were safe, though a number of the games on the main floor were damaged or destroyed; and the Poison Dragon Slayer was nursing a few minor injuries. Libra was standing beside the celestial mage as well, and Wendy assumed the spirit had something to do with the moderate-size crater in the ground at the four's feet.

"Are you guys okay?" Romeo asked them, seeing them nod before adding, "Did you kill the monster that was here?"

"We did," Erik answered, feeling slightly bitter that he was the only one that got hurt from the fight, "No thanks to you two."

"Hey!" Romeo defended himself and his partner, "We were busy killing the other one, for your information!"

"Well at least you did something right." Erik quipped dismissively before Wendy ignored him by asking Yukino for the communication lacrima; and after the Sabertooth wizard tossed it up to her, she spoke into the magic device.

"Guys, we found Erik in the casino; He's okay, and we took out two more of the monsters in the process… How are you guys doing?"

While waiting for a response from her other allies, Wendy jumped down to stand before the Poison Dragon Slayer; and since no one replied to her yet, she spoke to him instead while trying to ignore her growing concern for her allies. Erik spoke first, however, having heard her thoughts.

"Alright, I'll sit still, but make it quick." He told her as she began to heal him, "We've got to find the rest of my guildmates -annoying as they may be…"

"They're not that bad," Wendy replied honestly after giggling at him, having finished healing him as she spoke, "But I bet you like them, even if you don't admit it."

"And you're a lot tougher than we met last time," Erik quipped humorously to dismiss the fact that she was right, "I should probably start learning up on this 'ki' stuff if I wanna keep ahead of you."

Before she could ask how he knew about ki, he replied to her thoughts once more.

"Made you think about it by talking about your change in power," He explained with a smirk before surprising her by leaning in close to her and quietly adding, "And since you were nice enough to patch me up, I'll do you a little favor by telling you something about that old boyfriend you were just thinking about…"

Wendy's eyes widened in surprise as she wondered what he was about to say, but they were both interrupted by the voice of Rogue Cheney coming from the communication lacrima.

"If anyone's still in the basement, get away from the center of it, now!"

Before anyone could wonder about Rogue's warning, the oval-shaped purple portion of the ceiling began to crumble; and the group of heroes in the casino found themselves running for cover as most of the roof collapsed onto them.

 **Back outside…**

Jellal was doing his best to hide the fact that he was starting to feel exhausted while he stared at Zancrow, having just hit the dark wizard with another powerful combination of spells with his allies just before Rogue's call to Wendy's team came through his and Sting's lacrima; and the three battling the God Slayer heard a grim chuckle from him through the clearing smoke.

"Sounds like the Enenra are giving your friends some trouble." Zancrow remarked as he waited for the trio to be able to see the grin on his face before adding, "They don't realize it, but they're the lucky ones: unlike my Master's monsters, I'm expected to kill anyone that interferes with my task here; well, I have to try, at least."

"And besides, I knew this fight between us was inevitable." He informed Jellal while looking directly at him without a hint of amusement left on his face, "There's only one 'good' way this could end; but none of you are strong enough to make it happen. Maybe if I was without the power of my Master, you'd have a chance; but even then, I'm no fool like Orga, either. I wouldn't let you wear down and capture me like he did; I can't afford it."

Jellal read the dark wizard's expressions as he listened, and after hearing everything; he finally replied.

"You confuse me, Zancrow, more so than most of the interesting people I know. Back when you were with Grimoire Heart, there was a kind of purity in the way you acted; your loyalty to that guild was a very near-sighted code, but it was something you stuck to anyway. And I might not be your biggest fan, but I can tell that you figured out how to use that sense of honor for good; you're not this evil façade that's battling me, you can't be."

"Think you've got me pegged, don't you?" Zancrow replied rhetorically, "You're close, but you missed something: I don't believe in 'right and wrong', or in 'good and evil', for that matter. The only thing I believe in is what I can do for the people that I care about; and that's it. Anyone tries to stop me from getting what I want, I kill them!"

"Kill this, nutjob!" Sting instantly replied before rushing towards the dark wizard; but Zancrow was more than ready for his attack. The Dark Flame God Slayer easily leapt over the Dragon Slayer with a flip; and he quickly pulled Happy off the guild wizard's back midair before landing behind Sting and casting another, more powerful, fiery bellow into his back.

"Hey! No, Sting!" Happy shouted in protest and concern for his partner as he struggled and failed to free himself from the dark wizard's grip, "Lemme go!"

"Whatever you say, cat!" Zancrow complied, tossing Happy roughly onto the ground before punting him all the way into one of the towers of Akane Resort.

Jellal could only watch as both his allies were dispatched effortlessly; but he was completely taken by surprise when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Zancrow was choking him with one hand.

"Now do you see how much I've been holding back?" The dark wizard told him quietly while lifting him up and tightening the grip on his neck, "It doesn't matter how much you try to boost your speed, because I'm still only using a fraction of the power my Master has given me!"

Jellal tried to argue back, but the lack of oxygen and pain in his throat made it too difficult to speak; so Zancrow spoke again.

"I didn't want our fight to end like this," He admitted grimly, "But let's be honest with ourselves, here. We both knew this was only going to play out one way; I just hope Meldy forgives me for it…"

Jellal felt the vice around his neck began to tighten, grunting in pain before desperately punching Zancrow, who did not even flinch upon being struck; and Jellal's vision was becoming hazy when he suddenly heard a loud slicing noise, which somehow forced Zancrow to drop him.

Falling to his hands and knees with a gasp, Jellal slowly knelt up to see Zancrow had leapt a few yards away from him; and he could also see that there was a two-foot gash running along the right side of Zancrow's abdomen, which the dark wizard was busy cauterizing with his left hand while swearing loudly.

"I'm sorry I waited so long to help," Jellal ignored Zancrow as he heard the instantly familiar voice speak to him from behind, "But I couldn't find a clear opportunity for an attack that could bring him down."

Turning to look backwards, he saw Erza was looking down at him with a bright radiance around her that quickly dimmed, having just changed back into her usual armor; and she offered him a hand that he accepted before standing up with her help.

"I would be angry with you for ignoring what I said," He told her with a smirk, "But I knew you were coming the moment Rogue spoke through your lacrima."

"You're not about to scold me and send me away, are you?" She replied pointedly, though slightly amusedly as well, but Jellal shook his head.

"Sorry," He feigned an apology, "But I don't think I can afford to pick another unwinnable fight at the moment…"

Erza matched the smirk on Jellal's face, planning to respond to him when Zancrow finally interrupted them.

"You sneaky bitch!" He shouted while clenching his right fist angrily, and flames began to grow around him as he added, "You're gonna regret that!"

"I assure you, Zancrow," Erza retorted as she returned her focus to him, "I won't."

The Knight quickly changed her armor once again, this time equipping her Flame Empress Armor while summoning the Sea Empress Sword into her right hand; and Jellal took a stance to her left as he began to regather the remainder of his magic energy.

"That armor won't protect you from my flames, Titania!" Zancrow replied after grimacing irritably at her confident remark, "And that sword won't help you, either!"

Before either of the duo could respond to him, Zancrow promptly fired a black ki wave large enough to engulf both of them; and while perfectly mirroring each other's movements, Jellal leapt to the left while Erza went right before they both rushed Zancrow's sides, creating a blur of movement as Zancrow dodged all of their attacks. And after one very near miss from Erza's blade, the Dark Flame God Slayer decided to boost his speed once again before attempting a counterattack, having grown wary and bored at the same time.

Zancrow waited until he was able to corral both of his opponents in front of him, occasionally jabbing at them just to move them where he wanted; and when the timing was right, he leapt backwards before casting his Flame God's Supper without bothering to call it out, creating a large, fiery maw that he quickly closed onto the pair.

Jellal and Erza were roughly slammed together as scorching-hot black flames and ki engulfed them from both sides; only gasping in shock at the sudden burst of intense speed from the dark wizard, before grunting in pain as the fire began to burn them. Zancrow chuckled before speaking again as he held them in place.

"You know, I'd say I'm sorry for killing you this way; but you really did piss me off…"

The heat of Zancrow's attack suddenly spiked, and Jellal yelled in pain before Erza quickly joined him; and she struggled to cut throw the flames with her blade, until the pain caused her to lose her grip. Jellal also tried to force his way out, but he was already too exhausted; and the pain was too distracting for him to genuinely focus his power.

"You two really should say something besides screaming," Zancrow taunted them as they writhed in agony before him, "They will be your last words, after all!"

"They will not!" Erza yelled defiantly through the pain, attempting one last time at escaping; but she only managed to get a tip of a finger through before Zancrow raised the temperature more and pressed the attack harder into them.

"That wasn't a bad try," Zancrow complimented her, actually surprised that she even managed to push through his flames and energy at all, "But it wasn't good enough, I'm afraid!"

Finally having no more strength to resist, Jellal could only gather the strength to speak to his partner as his clothes and her armor began to slowly burn away.

"Erza, I'm… sorry…"

Shifting so that her chest was pressed against his, Erza used the last bit of her strength to hug him tightly and whisper to him, knowing exactly what he was feeling guilty for.

"Don't be… I couldn't… let you… do this… alone."

"How romantic: a real burning passion, right before my very eyes!" Zancrow remarked humorously as he watched their skin begin to burn; but that was when he was suddenly struck in the side a massive beam of white light, as Sting had finally managed to recover and climb back up the mountain before roaring desperately at Zancrow upon seeing his two allies' dire predicament.

Zancrow was swept aside as the blames flames and energy around Erza and Jellal quickly vanished; and the barely-clothed pair fell onto the dirt, with Jellal's back to the ground and Erza laying atop him.

"Guys!" Sting said worriedly as he scrambled over to them, "Tell me you're okay!"

"We're alive…" Erza pointed out the obvious while wincing in pain.

"For now…" Jellal added weakly; but for some odd reason, he and Erza shared a smile as soon as they made eye contact.

"Yeah, no way can you two fight right now…" Sting pointed out the obvious after getting a closer look at them, and he knew he had to act quickly if he was going to save them before Zancrow would return, "Well, I hope you guys can forgive me for the rough treatment, but we gotta move, now!"

Without much of a warning, the dragon slayer picked them both up before jogging to the edge of the mountain peak and unceremoniously dumping them both off the cliff; and he hoped they survived the tumble as he turned around spoke into his communication lacrima.

"Guys, if you can hear this, Jellal and Erza are hurt pretty bad; and I had to send them rolling down the mountain to get them away from Zancrow. Get them to Wendy as quick as you can."

As he spoke, Sting saw the dark wizard emerge from a portal on the ground about ten yards ahead; and Zancrow surprisingly grinned in amusement before they both heard Rogue's voice come from the lacrima.

"Sting, tell me you aren't facing Zancrow by yourself!"

"Heh," Sting chuckled at his friend's concern, "I am sure am."

"You damn idiot! Fine, just stay alive long enough for us to get to you -I'm on my way now!"

"He'll be here too late…" Zancrow said dramatically before snapping the fingers on his right hand once, finally signaling his Enenra escort to attack; and before Sting could react, he was tackled face-down into the dirt by two of the shadow monsters.

"I was waiting to get you alone…" The dark mage revealed as Sting tried to wrestle his way out, but the Enenrae were able to pin both of his arms and legs after a couple seconds of struggling.

"You see, your magic power has been disrupting my ability to control all these powers, just like it affected Orga; but I've been preparing to encounter you ever since that big oaf got captured. I made sure that I'd never lose control of this power!"

"Oh, I'm gonna do more than make you lose control," Sting promised him angrily, "After everything you've done to my friends, and my guildmates, I'm going to take all that dark power outta you; and then I'm gonna stomp you into the dirt!"

"That's some very big words for someone with such a small amount of strength!" Zancrow retorted in annoyance; but Sting only chuckled in response before quickly flaring as much magic energy as he could, temporarily blinding the dark wizard and sending the Enenra flying before rushing him and surprising even himself as he landed a punch on Zancrow's forehead.

A huge white explosion detonated in the dark wizard's face; and he tumbled backwards for a brief instant before turning his momentum in a flip that he landed smoothly, looking up just in time to feel his body beginning to lock up. A white magic seal suddenly appeared before his eyes, blinding him once again with its radiance; but he found he was unable to shield his eyes, nor was he able to move at all.

"The damn stigma…" Zancrow recalled the white mage's binding spell, "You know this isn't going to hold me… If that weak little Salamander could burn through it, so can I!"

Instead of arguing back, Sting punched Zancrow's face again with another light-wreathed fist.

"Good luck! It's gonna be hard controlling your magic while I'm doing this!" He taunted the dark wizard before punching him with one fist repeatedly, holding Zancrow by the hair with his left hand and taking his time with each one to make sure they were fully powered and over-charged with magic energy each time.

"This one's for Orga!"

"This one's for trashing my guild hall!"

"This one's for all the people you've hurt!"

"This one's for picking a fight with my friends!"

"This one's 'cause I don't like ya!"

"And this one's for being an evil scumbag!"

Sting stopped shouting at him, but he kept punching Zancrow until the dark mage changed his escape tactic; and Sting began to fall with his opponent into a jet-black portal when he suddenly felt someone grab the back of his jacket.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sting heard his best friend shout before being pulled away from the rift, though his grip on Zancrow slipped; and the dark wizard fell into the closing portal as Rogue released Sting to let him stand on his own.

"Thanks, man." Sting said gratefully, "Who knows where I would have ended up if I fell through that thing…"

"No problem. It's a shame you couldn't hang onto him, though." Rogue responded after nodding to accept his friend's gratitude.

"Don't worry, he'll be back as soon as he burns off that stigma," Sting informed him before jogging for the cliff facing the resort, "We should be more worried about Jellal and Erza right now."

"Or…" Rogue said with a concerned tone that instantly drew his friend's attention, and Sting turned to see his friend was staring down the two Enenrae that had accompanied the dark wizard,

"We can worry about them."

 **In the basement of Akane Resort, a few minutes ago…**

The ruins of the casino echoed as Sting's voice emanated from the lacrima Wendy was carrying; but she was more preoccupied with rescuing Carla and Yukino, who were not able to dodge the falling ceiling like her and Erik. She had been digging with Romeo and the other dragon slayer as soon as she heard Carla's calls for help, which informed them that Yukino was hurt.

Seconds after they could hear Rogue responding to Sting, they managed to free the two guild wizards; and they discovered that Yukino had shielded Carla from the debris just before it fell atop them. Wendy immediately began to inspect her injuries after seeing Carla was unharmed; and she saw that most of Yukino's injuries were internal, aside from a few cuts and some bruises.

As soon as she was finally able to lay her hands on the celestial mage, she could sense Yukino had received a concussion from the falling debris, along with a few cracked ribs and a broken right ulna -which was broken in three places, at least. Wendy quickly got to working healing her; and after a couple minutes, Yukino was waking up as Wendy finished her work. The Sabertooth mage grunted faintly in pain as she woke before realizing that she was not in as much pain as she expected she would be.

"Thank goodness…" Carla immediately sighed with relief at the sight.

"Wendy…?" Yukino questioned the young woman crouching over her, "You healed me?"

"I sure did." Wendy confirmed with a friendly smile before asking carefully, "How do you feel?"

"Pretty good, considering the circumstances…" Yukino answered while Wendy examined her one final time, "My arm's a little sore, though."

"Yeah, it was the hardest to heal," The Sky Maiden explained, "I'd try to avoid using it for a little while; but otherwise, you should be okay."

"Thank you, Wendy." The tigress said gratefully, and the fairy smiled in return before offering to take her left hand to help her friend up.

"You don't have to thank me," Wendy replied modestly as Yukino finished standing, "I owed you for protecting Carla."

The white-fur Exceed gave a grateful nod to the celestial mage before they were interrupted.

"Yeah, this is real heartwarming and all that…" Erik chimed in sarcastically before getting to his point, "But don't we have somewhere else to be, right now? Jellal and his girlfriend are pretty messed up, from what I heard."

"Girlfriend?" Yukino repeated curiously, "I didn't know Erza and Jellal were a thing…"

"They're not, but they are close." Wendy quickly explained before gesturing to Erik and adding, "He's exaggerating."

"Pardon my interrupting, but," Carla spoke up, "Don't we have more to worry about right now than our friends' relationship statuses?"

"The cat's right," Erik agreed, "We should get moving."

Before anyone responded to him, the group heard another loud rumbling coming from somewhere above them.

"Oh yeah, there's that, too." Erik remembered to inform the group, "That noise is Erza's group, probably fighting some more of the monsters at the moment; the commotion is making it hard for me to track specific people…"

"Maybe we should split up?" Romeo suggested, "Wendy and I can go and help Erza while you guys go and find the others."

"Shouldn't we send more than just you two?" Carla quickly questioned, "That's where Zancrow is!"

"I know, but that's another reason I'm going there." Wendy revealed with a confident smirk, "If Sting is there too, we might be able to free Zancrow from his master's control like we did with Orga."

"Well, there's no point in that." Erik informed her, "From what I know about that wacko's situation, I'm pretty sure he wants to be under Edo's control."

"Okay, well," Romeo concluded optimistically, "Maybe we can just take his powers from him. Even if we don't catch him, he'll have to go back to his Master to get his power-up back."

"I think it's worth a shot." Wendy agreed with her friend.

"Then you two should get a move on," Erik told them, "We've been standing around for way too long as it is…"

Wendy nodded before quickly taking the communication lacrima and handing it back to Yukino.

"Here, take it." she said as she moved towards the celestial mage, "Jellal had two more on him, so we can get one from him if we need it."

Taking a second to focus her ki sense, Wendy closed her eyes before taking a few seconds to locate her injured allies.

"I'm pretty sure I know where they are," She told the group after reopening her eyes, "But their energy feels very low... We need to take the short way."

"Okay," Romeo replied, curiously and cautiously, "And which way is that?"

Instead of answering with words, Wendy quickly grabbed Romeo around the waist, causing him to blush at the sudden closeness; and she only gave him one warning:

"Now take a deep breath; and hang on tight."

The pair rocketed through the massive hole in the ceiling before Wendy used her energy to blast through a wall on the first floor, exiting the building within the blink of an eye.

 **Back outside…**

A few minutes after Sting dumped her off a cliff, Erza woke up with a pained groan as her senses slowly came back to her; and she blinked a few times as her vision adjusted, slowly trying to shove off whatever was laying atop her as she did -until she realized who she was shoving.

"Jellal?" She muttered curiously before quickly remembering how she ended up in her current position.

The bluenette grunted painfully as her hands pushed against him, and Erza immediately began to blush; as she realized the very familiar position they were laying in, thinking instantly about that one night before the Grand Magic Games. She knew they should probably get up and try to help the others, if they even could; but she also did not want to move, especially after Jellal began to wake and realize where he was.

"Erza?" He said slowly while planting his hands on the ground, just above her shoulders; and he also took a few seconds to recall what had happened to himself and his partner.

"How bad are you hurt?" She asked with a quiet and caring tone.

"I'm not sure," Jellal answered honestly, "Body feels mostly numb, actually."

"Mine too." Erza revealed, sounding slightly confused with herself, "It's odd… You'd think we be in so much pain with these injuries, but I'm not…"

"Well, we do have a high tolerance for pain." He remarked with grim humor, "Especially after the lives we've lived…"

"Don't." She interrupted him with a hint of humor in her tone.

"Don't what?" He replied, wondering if he should be ready to either laugh or defend himself.

"Start beating yourself up again." She told him, "You do it every time you talk about your past…"

Jellal blinked nervously when Erza gently held both sides of his face in her hands before looking him directly in the eye and speaking again.

"I know you've heard this before; but it's in the past, Jellal. You don't have to let it shape your future."

Putting his weight on his left hand, Jellal instinctively placed his right hand over Erza's left; and he briefly enjoyed the intimate contact before responding.

"I'm not." He explained honestly, "Believe it or not, I… I think I'm just… scared… Even if we tried to have that normal, 'happy' life; this world exists in a constant cycle of violence, and every threat that comes is always worse than the one before it…"

Erza was sympathetic to Jellal's concerns, which she guessed were on a near-infinite list considering she knew how vivid his imagination could be; and at first, she could not decide whether to agree with him or not.

"I know, Jellal…" She interrupted him while softly pulling him slightly closer to her,

"And you're not a coward for being afraid of what could happen, but… you're forgetting something very important: you aren't alone in your fight anymore, Jellal; every single guild is on our side now, not to mention all our friends! Even if we have to help our friends defeat Edo, Zeref, and Acnologia; our life after doesn't have to be like this… Our friends would easily fill our shoes if we wanted to go and live a peaceful life, something close to normal…"

Jellal could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, having never imagined Erza would consider leaving Fairy Tail; and his surprise must have been obvious, because Erza seemed to become more nervous and embarrassed the more she spoke.

"It doesn't mean we'll be avoiding training or anything like that… We'd train together, of course. I mean, if we ever tried to settle down, we'd still have to be strong enough to protect ourselves, or… any… um… you know… we might…"

Jellal blinked nervously as Erza blushed intensely while hesitating to finish her point. He knew very well what she was thinking about; but he had never thought that she had considered being with him this much -he had never thought anyone, Erza included, would consider having that sort of life with him. Also, the only time he had ever considered the prospect of a family life was when he met Gohan and Videl and saw how happy they were together; and Jellal quietly concluded they had a similar effect on Erza as well, judging by the subject matter they both chose.

"Point is…" Erza decided to move past the more embarrassing topics, "We don't have to stop worrying about what could happen, and we don't have to live in fear, either. We could just live, Jellal. It doesn't matter where or how, but all I want is for you to be happy… to find peace… and… to feel… loved…"

Jellal was breathless and speechless for a brief moment, and he had no clue how to respond at first; but then he noticed that Erza's eyes became watery as she finished speaking, and the sight of her sparked something inside him. Without even having to try, Erza always made him feel special and content; but in this moment, he could not find a way to describe what he was feeling. His mind was in total conflict with his heart; when suddenly, he found his body relying on instinct. He moved his free hand away from hers to wipe the tears from her eyes before he hesitantly said the only clear thought that was running through his mind.

"Erza, I… I lo-"

Before he could finish, however; Erza quickly raised her head and pulled his lips to hers, causing him to widen his eyes in shock before she eased her grip on him and rested her head on the ground again, whispering a humorous remark with a weak smirk.

"If you think I didn't know that by now…" She informed him, "You must think I'm some kind of fool…"

Jellal chuckled faintly before he saw the expression on her face return to a more serious form.

"Just promise me, that when all this is over… promise me that we'll try being a normal couple at some point…"

There was a tense but brief silence between them until Jellal finally decided to answer with actions instead of words; and he quickly kissed her back before his mind could reject the impulse.

Erza happily returned the kiss before removing her hands from his face to wrap her arms around him and pull him tight against her, deepening the kiss in the process; and since she had put all of his weight onto herself, Jellal was able to use both hands to hold her. After a few seconds, Erza moaned into him; and he was about to use his hands to massage her while they kissed, but an awkward cough from someone in front of them suddenly brought them back to reality.

"H-hey, guys…" A beet-red Romeo greeted them tentatively before commenting, "I guess you're not hurt that bad after all…"

"R-Romeo…?" Erza stuttered nervously.

"No, they are hurt; they probably just don't feel it." Wendy remarked honestly while trying to hide the fact that she was blushing as well, "Serious burns can damage the skin's nerves; and if you damage them too much, you won't feel at all."

Erza could not believe she let two of her younger guild members witness her first kiss; and Jellal was on a similar level of embarrassment right alongside her.

"So," Romeo concluded, "You're saying it's going to be harder to heal them, even though they're acting like they're okay?"

"That's right." The Sky Maiden confirmed before she knelt over the two and finally spoke to them.

"If anyone asks us later, Romeo and I are going to say we found you unconscious, if that's what you want."

Feeling slightly relieved with the promise of the duo's discretion, Jellal and Erza gratefully nodded together before Wendy quickly began to heal Erza first.

"Hey, Jellal," Romeo questioned him curiously while Wendy focused on her work, "Do you still have one of those lacrima on you? We should probably tell everyone that we found you."

Jellal shook his head apologetically before explaining, "I gave one to Sting, but I think I dropped the other one when my clothes got burned. Sorry…"

"It's fine." Romeo reassured him, "We'll just pick it up after we go help Sting and Rogue."

Now that Romeo mentioned it, Jellal and Erza could faintly hear the sounds of a battle raging above them.

"We should probably get Jellal some clothes first." Wendy observed as she finished healing Erza, "He's only got that little plate of armor left on, after all…"

"Good idea." Jellal agreed sheepishly while Erza reequipped her casual Heart Kreuz armor before slowly standing up and speaking.

"I may have a pair of pants you could fit into," She said thoughtfully, "But it won't be anything very practical. Or flattering…"

"And beggars don't get to be choosers…" Jellal replied with a weak smirk, and Erza matched his grin before raising a hand before herself and summoning a maroon and pink pair of Heart Kreuz-branded pajama pants.

"Thanks." Jellal told Erza as Wendy finished healing him, and he quickly thanked the Sky Maiden as well before standing up, causing everyone else to look away until he had finished putting on his borrowed clothes.

"I sorry I don't have any shoes that fit you," Erza apologized before jokingly, "Unless you'd like to try running around here in heels, I've got a few of those you might fit into."

"I think I'll be okay." Jellal assured her amusedly as he examined what was left of the scorched armor plate he usually wore over his torso, and then he looked back to the mountaintop before adding, "At least my cloak should still be up there; Meldy will kill me if I tell her that I lost another one…"

Wendy and Erza lightly chuckled at him before Romeo got the group back on track.

"Come on, everyone," He said to get their attention, "Sting and Rogue probably need our help up there."

"Right," Wendy agreed aloud while her other allies nodded before she quickly held her hands out with her palms aimed at Erza and Jellal.

"Arms, Armor, Vernier!"

The pair began to levitate as the spells activated until they gained full control of their heightened abilities, and they both gently landed before nodding gratefully to Wendy and saying simultaneously,

"Let's go!"

Atop the mountain peak, Sting and Rogue were still struggling to eliminate the two Enenra, which were clever and quick enough to avoid being obliterated by the Twin Dragons' attacks; but the Enenrae also seemed to be behaving more cautious than before Rogue had arrived, which was for good reason: Upon casting the first spell he managed to hit one of the monsters with, Rogue discovered that his Shadow Magic allowed him to touch the Enenra no matter their form. After that discovery, the two creatures took advantage of their extreme speed and used it to evade most of their foes' attacks; and they were trying their best to not let the Twin Dragons coordinate their attacks, and only attacking when they found a chance -though any attack they did land was too quick and cautious to deal significant damage; and the dragon slayers had only received a few cuts and scrapes so far.

"Rrrgh!" Sting began to complain after standing nearly back to back with his partner once more, "They don't friggin sit still long enough for me to hit 'em!"

"Their speed is impressive," Rogue conceded coolly, staring at the Enenra ahead of him before making a reassuring observation to his partner, "But they're nowhere near as strong as I thought they'd be."

"It kinda feels like they're holding back, to be honest." Sting agreed with a faintly annoyed tone while looking at the monster ahead of him, until he glanced back to his partner and asked him, "But they can't be smart enough to play games with us, can they?"

"Some monsters are pretty clever," Rogue reminded his guild master, "There's even a few kinds that are considered 'sentient'; and they're usually the most dangerous kinds of monsters to face, as well."

"You think these guys are that kinda monster?" Sting concluded, and he did not have to look at Rogue to see his friend nodding in response; so he added an additional comment next, "Well, they don't seem all that dangerous right now."

"You might be right about them holding back," The Shadow Dragon Slayer remarked thoughtfully, "Zancrow could've ordered them to stall us; or he could be controlling them right now."

"Yeah, he should have burned off that Stigma by now." The White Dragon Slayer added before he sensed a sudden burst in magic energy coming from below and behind him; and he grinned confidently before adding, "But if Zancrow did tell these two to play with us, they're about to pay for his mistake."

Rogue glanced at his friend, confused at first; but then he also used his magic sense, which helped him to easily understand the mischievous smirk Sting was currently giving him.

"You wanna trade dancing partners?" Sting asked amusedly, and Rogue nodded while giving his friend a faint grin of his own. The Enenra before Rogue was caught off-guard when the shadow slayer suddenly performed a flip over Sting, who instantly blinded the monster with a bright flash of light before Rogue grabbed the White Dragon Slayer by the shoulders halfway through the flip; and Sting let himself get thrown over the second Enenra before he fired a few beams of white magic in a semi-circle behind it, forcing it to leap towards Rogue, who then focused his magic energy into his hands before grabbing the monster and throwing it at its stunned companion.

As soon as the two monsters collided, Sting and Rogue combined their magic powers into a swift attack that was meant more to keep them in place, rather than actually harm them; and Sting rushed their left side while Rogue rushed their right, chanting together as they attacked,

"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!"

As soon as they were close enough, both dragon slayers slashed at the monsters with thin black and white threads of magic flowing from their fingertips. The Enenrae could only freeze in pain as they suffered through the rapid assault, with Rogue's magic forcing them to feel being pierced and sliced while Sting's burned and weakened them; but they were surprised when the Twin Dragons suddenly ceased their attacks and leapt backward, until the appearance of four other guild wizards explained the duo's actions.

Seeing exactly where Sting and Rogue's magic was slicing, Erza, Romeo, and Jellal were able to join Wendy in launching a massive combined attack; and the two pinned-down Enenra went out with a defiant screech as they, along with a large chunk of the rocky ground they were standing on, were completely erased by one multicolored and oversized blast of raw magic energy.

 **Inside Akane Resort…**

Gajeel, Erik, Levy, Pantherlily, Carla, and Yukino were jogging down a long hallway in the hotel section of the resort when they had first run into Sawyer, who had apparently found himself in a desperate stalemate with two more of Edo's Enenrae; and they swiftly came to his aid and eliminated the creatures with ease before searching the upper floors to find and eliminate two more.

After dispatching the last of the monsters in the hotel area, the group hurried back towards the amusement park, where they sensed Macbeth; and they arrived after a couple minutes to surprisingly see that he was holding off five of the Enenrae by himself, who managed to finally dispatch them with the aid of his reinforcements. But upon killing the last of the five, the group had no time to celebrate their accomplishments; and no one could explain it, but everyone one of them could sense a very ominous presence in their vicinity.

That presence revealed itself to be Zancrow emerging from a portal that was in the pathway to the resort's entrance; and a dark mist began to rise from his body as he clenched a fiery fist angrily and shouted at them.

"Well look what we have here: it's a bunch of annoying meddlers, all grouped up nice and neatly for me! I really should thank you for making it easy; because now I can kill the lot of you together!"

"Oh, blah, blah, blah; yadda yadda." Gajeel was the first to retort, "You gonna actually try something, or are you just gonna shout at us?"

A few of the Iron Dragon Slayer's friends cringed nervously at the furious glare Zancrow gave him in response; but they all stood firm when the God Slayer replied.

"Oh, don't worry, Gajeel. I assure you that I have no desire to spend any more time dealing with you people than I actually have to! But I need to do a few things before we can get to that…

"First, I'd like to test this out…" Zancrow began counting off his list while secretly focusing his power, with the only sign he was up to something being a faint motion of his hand, "And Gajeel, do me a favor and let me know if you feel any kind of familiar sensations…"

Briefly confused, the whole group watched the God Slayer nervously until Gajeel suddenly felt and understood what Zancrow had meant.

"Ah, crap! Not this again! Wait, one of you guys-" He whined to his group before Erik suddenly interrupted him by hitting the back of his head as hard as possible, which caused the majority of their nearby allies to look on in shock.

"Why did you do that?!" Levy immediately demanded, "Did you kill him?!"

"Relax, he's just knocked out." The Poison Dragon Slayer reassured her before explaining, "And he wanted to be knocked out, too."

"Why would he ever have wanted that?!" The script mage argued back, but she was slightly surprised when Pantherlily answered her question.

"Because there wasn't time to do anything else." The Exceed informed the group, "Zancrow must have been trying to control Gajeel like Edo once did."

Zancrow quietly smirked to confirm his theory, and Levy quickly wondered how controlling Gajeel was possible.

"It's the darkness inside him, you see." Zancrow was eager to answer, "He may not be a shadow or dark mage, but that power he stole from Rogue -and that little bit of darkness tucked away inside his heart- it's all I need to make Gajeel my puppet, just like the Enenrae!"

"Gajeel probably was about to ask us to knock him out," Pantherlily concluded aloud after Zancrow stopped speaking, "And I think Erik just saved us from a decent bit of trouble…"

The group would have felt reassured if Zancrow had not replied first.

"Well, he would have… if I was only trying to control him…"

"Erik… Sawyer…" the group heard Macbeth surprisingly pleading to his guildmates, "Help… I can't… move…"

"You know, you chumps in Crime Sorciere are some of my favorite kind of idiots…" Zancrow teased the trio with a chuckle, "You wanna know why?

"It's because you suckers think that you're one of the good guys now!" He revealed with a widened grin, "Don't you remember? You're all murderers and thieves trying to undo all the so called 'bad' that you've done; but nothing you mere mortals do will ever bring your victims back, will they? The moment you killed for some selfish crusade was the moment that stained your heart forever! If I had the full powers of my Master, I could control anyone with corrupted hearts like yours; but I'll settle for only being able to take over those corrupt beings that were foolish enough to even venture into the darkness themselves…"

Knowing he had heard more than enough to understand what was happening, Erik quickly tried to knock Macbeth unconscious like he did Gajeel; but Macbeth, while awkwardly apologizing, redirected the poison mage's attack and sent him flying into a nearby concession stand instead.

Zancrow immediately began to laugh amusingly at the sight, suddenly changing his mind about wasting time toying with them as he did; and he taunted the group once again, next.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again… If none of you are gods, then none of you will have a chance; so do us all a huge favor by picking up scrap-for-brains and just walk away before this gets any messier. Hell, I'll even let my new pet go home with you!"

With both Erik and Gajeel seemingly out of commission, the remaining four guild wizards were unsure how they should react.

"Listen to him…" Macbeth pleaded to them, "I don't… like this… fe- ah!"

"Yeah, that's enough outta you." Zancrow remarked with mild annoyance before tightening his control over the former dark wizard's mind to silence him; and he returned his gaze to the four once more before demanding a response.

"So what's it gonna be, 'heroes'?" He questioned them with a hint of sarcasm, "Do you all wanna die here and now; or do you wanna die later when you come back with all your other friends?"

Each of the five were trying to quietly form some sort of strategy as they listened to the God Slayer, but none of them could even begin to conceive of way to defeat both Zancrow and Macbeth on their own. Only their pride was keeping them from turning tail and fleeing; but reason and survival instincts slowly won them over.

After looking back and forth between his comrades and seeing exactly how nervous and reluctant they all were to make the choice, Pantherlily knew he had to step forward and make the responsible decision.

"Okay, okay…" He spoke calmingly, "You win, Zancrow. We'll stand down, for now; but you have to release Macbeth first."

The dark wizard seemed to consider refusing the Exceed's request for a sign of good faith; but after a few seconds, he smirked devilishly once again before replying.

"Oh, fine." He said playfully, "If it makes you feel better about admitting your defeat, I'll do it."

"You're _so_ kind." Levy remarked sarcastically, and Zancrow gave her an annoyed glance before deciding to ignore her and to keep on grinning. He waved his right hand in a showy fashion; and Macbeth twitched awkwardly for a second before sighing in tired relief.

"There, I've done my part." Zancrow told the group before Macbeth or his allies could speak with each other, "Now, pick up your other two friends and get out of my sight."

The group was slow to react, still feeling slightly apprehensive about their surrender; but Levy soon moved to pick Gajeel up, which gave Yukino and Sawyer enough courage to move and check on Erik. The script mage was able to reach her partner, but her other two allies were only halfway over to where they last saw Erik when the whole group was suddenly interrupted; as six different portals opened in an instant, with one behind Zancrow while the other five each appeared near one of the surrendering guild wizards. Yukino, Carla, Pantherlily, and Levy only managed to shout in protest before an Enenra burst forth from each of the four portals and pinned them to the ground. Only Sawyer managed to evade the monster that lunged at him by darting a few yards away from the portal as soon as it opened, and he quickly spun around with a plan to free his friends and form some sort of counterattack; but the sight of his allies in danger quickly confused him.

The anti-speedster noticed that Macbeth was not pinned down either, giving him a half-second's worth of hope before his rational mind caught up to him: Macbeth was free, but he was not helping anyone either. In fact, he was not moving at all.

"Macbeth, what are you doing?!" He quickly questioned his guildmate, "Get those things off of them, now!"

Taking advantage of Sawyer being distracted, Zancrow grabbed the Crime Sorciere mage by the back of his neck in the blink of an eye; and the God Slayer tightened his one-handed grip immensely, causing his captive to briefly shout painfully while he cackled triumphantly.

"Sorry, Sawyer," He taunted cheerily, "But you really are alone in this pointless little struggle. I mean, did you guys really think that I'd just give up my new toy that easily? Hah! No way! If any of you had the brains to use your magic sense, you'd have known that something was off about our little deal from the start! But lucky for me, you guild wizards are a naïve bunch of idealists; and you're so easy to manipulate… It's so convenient!"

"I'm sorry, Saw…yer…" Macbeth apologized as Zancrow momentarily relaxed his control.

"I bet you are!" Zancrow agreed humorously before silencing his puppet once again; and he looked back to the man he was choking before asking him, "Now, what should I do with you?

"Thanks to your efforts, I don't have enough Enenrae to hold all of you hostage," The dark mage added before he began to menacingly list off the options he could think of.

"I could just kill you and get you out of the way, but that's just too easy; or I could try and banish you from this dimension… that's a trick of my Master's I haven't tried yet, though- it might just kill you. Let see…"

Sawyer winced once more as the grip around his neck tightened before his captor continued.

"I could maim you and then knock you out, but you wouldn't learn anything from that lesson yet; I'm pretty sure I'd have to torture you a lot before you'd actually be afraid to face me again…

"Oh, I know!" He declared excitedly after focusing his dark powers on the former dark wizard, "You've got that little murderer's stain on your soul, too, don't ya? Maybe I should try controlling you as well!"

Before Sawyer could attempt to respond, the black aura radiating off Zancrow began to expand over him; but the Crime Sorciere mage could feel an immensely painful sensation starting from his neck and slowly spreading as every fiber of his mind and body began to reject whatever essence Zancrow's power was putting into him.

"Oh yeah, I shoulda warned you," Zancrow apologized sarcastically after Sawyer began to howl in defiant pain, "If I can't gain control of you, there's a good chance that I'll scramble your mind instead. Your resistance is only making this worse."

Sawyer's screaming grew louder, but Zancrow continued his attempt anyway; and his captive began to flail in his grip before he spoke again.

"You want this pain to end, right?" He questioned his victim rhetorically, "Then give in! Surrender yourself to me, and I can guarantee that the pain will stop."

"N-… N-No!" Sawyer gasped out; and he desperately to kick at Zancrow, though his efforts had no positive effect on the situation.

"Moron!" Zancrow only grew more annoyed by his resistance, "Don't you get it?! If you resist, you can end up worse than dead; do you hear me?!"

In the next instant, someone else responded for Zancrow; as Erik sprung from his impromptu hiding spot with a shout.

"I can hear you, you dumb bastard!" He remarked angrily before attempting to cast a spell large enough to hit Zancrow and all the Enenrae; but he was interrupted before he could strike.

"Poison Dra-" Was all he managed to say before Zancrow, in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of Erik, created a blade of flame with his right hand and drove it into the center dragon slayer's abdomen.

The four heroes pinned to the ground each reacted in their own forms of shock at the sight of their friend being stabbed; but Zancrow only chuckled as he withdrew his fiery blade and kicked Erik onto his back, who only gasped and grunted in pain as he landed harshly.

"I told you this could happen, you know." The dark wizard reminded them as he stood over Erik, "I wasn't lying when I said that resisting me could get you killed or worse."

Hoping to intimidate them even further, Zancrow kept the blade of his right hand formed to let them see Erik's blood dripping off its tip; and he grinned devilishly before locking eyes with Yukino and licking the blade once, making Carla grimace in disgust whine Levy and the celestial mage squirmed awkwardly.

"You… bastard…" Sawyer groaned painfully, having only recovered enough strength to watch events unfold before him.

"Be quiet, and I'll get back to you in a second." Zancrow told him off impatiently before turning to the two idle Enenrae and ordering them.

"You, hold him down; and make sure he doesn't dodge you this time, for your sake. And you, let's wake the tin head up if you can."

The first creature quickly obeyed by tackling Sawyer without hesitation, but the second took a more cautious approach towards its orders as it shuffled over to Gajeel; and it looked him over carefully before doing anything else.

"Well," Zancrow said thoughtfully as his two minions complied, "I guess we don't need you four around for this part."

Waving a hand lazily, he created portals underneath Levy, Yukino, Carla, and Pantherlily before the Enenrae on top of them made sure they fell through; and while taking a moment to examine his three victims, he telepathically ordered the four monsters to secure their prisoners before making their return to the resort.

"Now," Zancrow questioned Sawyer as soon as he finished communicating his commands, "Where were we?"

 **A couples minutes later…**

Jellal, Erza, Wendy, Romeo, Sting, and Rogue quickly hurried down the mountainside and into the main building of the resort the moment they sensed a few of their friend's magic energies disappear; and they discovered most of the building was deserted until they were greeted, in what remained of the main hall, by a cocky, smirking Zancrow.

"Hey, guys. How's things?" He asked them playfully, standing on the edge of the floor's caved-in center; but Jellal had no more patience for the dark wizard's games.

"What did you do with our friends?" He demanded forcefully.

"And if you say you hurt any of them, I swear…" Sting added menacingly, knowing he did not need to finish his sentence for the threat to get across.

"Oh, please," Zancrow remarked dismissively, "None of you are going to do a damn thing to me, and I know it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you." Erza replied sternly, but the dark wizard only grinned wider upon hearing her words.

"Oh, but I would." He told her gravely before briefly waving a hand to create four separate, six-foot square portals; and the six heroes were instantly shocked to see that Levy, Yukino, Carla, and Pantherlily were each being held in separate rooms of near total darkness.

"Carla!"

"Yukino!"

Wendy shouted in horror just as Sting called out to Yukino with serious concern; and both dragon slayers started to rush towards the two portals, until Romeo grabbed Wendy by the wrist and Rogue grabbed Sting by the back of his collar.

"Wendy, wait!" The multi-flame mage whispered to her urgently, "We can't do anything crazy right now!"

"You son of bitch!" The White Dragon Slayer barked angrily at the dark wizard while trying to free himself from his friend's grip, "I'm going to kill you!"

As soon as Sting threatened Zancrow, Wendy and Rogue saw six Enenrae emerging from portals on the ground between them and Zancrow; and though the rest of the group only saw the rifts they were climbing out of, they did not need to ask Wendy or Rogue to know what the two were seeing.

"Relax, everyone," Zancrow assured them teasingly as the Enenrae's portals faded from view, "If you cooperate with me, those poor saps have got nothing to worry about; and you guys can walk away with all four of them. _But_ …"

"But there's a catch, isn't there?" Jellal interrupted him with some impatience.

"There's always a catch." Romeo and Sting grumbled simultaneously.

"Well," Zancrow replied pointedly, "That would be why they call it a 'conditional surrender', nimrods.

"Look, I'm gonna be honest." He added honestly before silently ordering the Enenrae in the center of the room to move out his way as he stepped forward, "Tonight's little escapade has turned out to be a lot more annoying and complicated than I thought it would; and I'd rather be doing other things than roughing up a bunch of weaklings. In fact, this whole battle is just one big waste of our time."

"I don't see it that way." Jellal argued coolly, "How many innocent people were here when you started attacking the place? A couple hundred, at least? I might have been able to forgive you for attack guild wizards; but you've targeted ordinary people, who had no chance of defending themselves. And that is something I cannot forgive."

"Then it's a good thing I don't need your forgiveness, _Jellal,_ " Zancrow retorted with a hint of scorn towards the former Wizard Saint's name, "All I need is your cooperation; and in case you haven't heard me say this before, I really don't give a damn what you think of me."

"Then maybe you should speak quickly," Erza suggested impatiently, "Instead of playing games like your master."

Although Zancrow maintained his prideful expression as he listened, Jellal and Erza were able to notice that his face twitched irritably for barely an instant before he replied.

"I guess I can do that, since you asked so politely…" The god slayer remarked humorously before getting to the point, "What I want here should be pretty obvious, even to you stubborn jackasses: I like this place, but let's be honest; a guy like me would never have been able to just visit here like any of the common rabble. So, I decided to take the place over for myself."

"And you want us to let you just have the place?" Wendy questioned Zancrow skeptically.

"It doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement," The dark wizard conceded, "I get bored pretty easily; so I'd say that I only really need this place for week or two, but yeah… You are gonna have to let me keep the place. Heck, I might even be nice enough to fix the damage that you idiots did to the place when you were killing off the Enenra."

"Your monster buddies were just as responsible for that as we are." Rogue defended himself honestly.

"Whatever the case," Erza interjected, staring only at Zancrow as she spoke, "You should know that the Magic Council and the kingdom would oppose any sort of agreement we may come to, no matter the terms."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock." Zancrow agreed with her mockingly, "But be honest with me, when was the last time that the Magic Council ever protected something from people like me? And I don't really have to tell you guys about how bad things get when the royalty actually tries to save people… Nah, I'm not worried about them at all. But you guys are strong and crazy enough to demolish the place before I can enjoy it; so you gotta go, one way or another."

"But you'd prefer to win with as little collateral damage as possible." Jellal deduced quickly.

"Bingo." Zancrow confirmed before adding, "But you should also keep in mind that refusing my offer in any way will get your friends killed; and it's not just me you've got to worry about, after all. They're all in my Master's Shadow now; and they're not getting out unless we let them out."

"Yeah, right!" Sting contested, "Unless rescuing Orga was some kind of fluke, you're talking out your ass!"

The group of heroes noticed that Zancrow was becoming visibly impatient now; and the tone of his response clearly matched the annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, please, none of you would have done that if my Master hadn't allowed it; and you can keep that over-sized disappointment, for all I care!"

Sting and Rogue both scowled at the dark wizard in annoyance, but Jellal spoke to them before they could keep arguing with Zancrow.

"Stay focused, you two." He said while trying to sound reassuring, "We can argue with him after we've saved our friends."

"I couldn't agree more." Zancrow concurred with a hint of gratitude before continuing to make his offer, "Here's the deal: if you swear to leave this place, and to keep more of your friends from coming back either; then I will give you back most of your friends unharmed."

"'Most'?" Wendy repeated before doing her best to avoid yelling at Zancrow as she questioned him, "You said you were going to let all four of them go, remember?!"

The dark wizard was surprisingly not annoyed by her rude tone; instead, he seemed more amused before he spoke.

"I did, and I will give them to you." He confirmed before revealing, "But they're not the only hostages I have."

"They're not?!" Romeo gasped while Erza and Jellal only grimaced, finally having some of their suspicions regrettably affirmed; and Wendy stepped forward to shout at the dark wizard while Sting and Rogue quietly simmered in intense anger.

"We're not making any kind of deal unless we know that we'll get everyone back!" She told him sternly; and this time, Zancrow was visibly annoyed once again as he replied.

"Don't be naïve, Sky Maiden!" He quipped pointedly, "You think I'd trust you guild wizards to leave me be for a whole month without proper motivation, then you're still that same child I so easily beat back at Phantom Lord!"

Everyone in the massive room was silent for a second as they each cooled off and processed their thoughts on the situation, until Jellal spoke up next.

"These other hostages," He deduced gravely, "They're my guildmates, aren't they?"

"And Gajeel…" Zancrow confirmed with another wide grin, and he ignored the group's disdainful expressions as he decided to reveal another piece of shocking information, "And Rogue."

"Rogue?" Sting remarked in confusion, "What are you talking about? He's standing right next to me; and I don't plan on letting him give himself up!"

"Oh?" Zancrow replied confidently, "Are you so sure of that?"

"Sting," The Shadow Dragon Slayer spoke up with a faint hint of nervousness in his voice, "I think… I think I should… stay…"

Turning to look at his friend with instant disbelief, Sting quickly realized something was wrong with his friend, who was almost completely still as he appeared to be struggling to move; and the rest of their group quickly figured out what was happening just before Zancrow gave them a somewhat honest apology.

"I am actually sorry about this part of the deal." He informed them with the smallest hint of humor his tone had held throughout the entire conversation, "But I planned on keeping four of you guys; and since I kinda broke one of the four I already collected, I need a replacement."

Jellal's eyes widened nervously at the man's words, but Zancrow ignored the Crime Sorciere leader as he spoke to his new target.

"You see, I was hoping to keep only the ones with the 'sordid' pasts and all that; but I think you'll be do just fine. I mean, you did want to be a dark wizard just like Gajeel at one point, didn't you, Ryos?"

"Not like… this…" Rogue managed to argue back, "And… my name isn't…"

"Oh, relax, kid…" Zancrow tried to assure him, "If you simply agree to stay for a little while, I assure you: that power that's hurting you right now will make you feel more alive than you've ever been. All you have to do is relax and let me call the shots for a while."

"Zancrow," Jellal finally had to interrupt him, "What did you do?"

"Huh?" The dark fire mage asked with initial confusion, "Oh, you're asking about Erik… Yeah, I killed him."

Erza quickly looked to Jellal in shocked concern; but she was slightly surprised to see that Jellal had somehow maintained his stern expression, until she noticed the intensity in his eyes. She had only seen that wildness in his eyes twice in her life; but she knew it well enough to begin preparing to intervene before he could do something they would all regret.

"You… killed… him?" Jellal repeated the words, almost refusing to belief the thought.

"Well, he might not be dead yet," Zancrow clarified with hint of grim humor in his tone, "But that hole in his gut brought him down pretty quick, and there was so much blood… I almost slipped on some when I left him."

"Erik…" Jellal said apologetically, and Erza finally moved to him in an attempt to comfort him.

"Jellal…" She spoke softly while gently placing a hand on his arm, "I'm sorry…"

"As am I." He remarked honestly before looking at the floor in shame.

"I guess I can add Erik to that long list of people I've failed to protect…" Jellal added bitterly; and Erza's grip on his arm tightened nervously until he finally got his emotions back in check, "And I cannot add any other names to that list today…"

"Wait…" Romeo chimed in, "We're not actually considering his offer after hearing that, are we?! He's a cold-blooded murderer! How could we trust him?!"

"Oh, I'm the furthest thing from _cold_ -blooded, you little brat." Zancrow retorted, "And for the record, I only stabbed him because he refused to stay down and out my way; I wanted to recruit him, just like the others."

"Murder is murder!" Sting argued, "And you can't just friggin replace one person with another!"

"So I guess that means you still object to our deal?" Zancrow asked him rhetorically.

"No…" Rogue answered for his friend, "He will…"

"Try and stay quiet, Rogue," Sting told him as kindly as he could while still sounding forceful, "If he's been trying to get in your head, agreeing with him not even be your idea!"

"You can't… fight…" Rogue pleaded anyway, "Please, Sting… This… IS…me…talking…"

"That's it!" Wendy suddenly declared, "I've heard enough!"

Moving over to Sting and Rogue, she quickly gave the White Dragon Slayer a serious expression that he immediately understood; and they both laid a hand on Rogue's chest after Sting gave Wendy a quick nod, focusing their magic powers as soon as they started to reach for their friend.

Zancrow looked at them curiously for a few seconds before sensing his control over Rogue was starting to fade, and he quickly reacted as soon as he had caught on.

"Oh, no you don't!" He exclaimed angrily before waving his right hand aggressively to create three new portals around the huddled trio; and Macbeth, Sawyer, and Gajeel each emerged from them before they each grabbed one of the trio and pulled them apart, just as the dark portals disappeared.

"Hey!" Romeo shouted in instant concern upon seeing Gajeel roughly grab and pull Wendy an arm, "What are you doing, Gajeel?!"

"Get off me, creep!" Sting whined to Sawyer, who was bending one of Sting's arms at an awkward angle that kept him from moving.

"Sorry," Macbeth apologized to the group, and he quickly released Rogue as he did so, "But we can't resist our master's commands. Not anymore -it feels too good now…"

"Heh…" Zancrow chuckled at the surprise on some of his enemies' faces, "You see? Anyone that stays here with me won't be suffering some terrible fate; it'll be more like they're on their own little vacation with me."

"Sorry, kid." Gajeel apologized to Wendy in an attempt to convince her to quit struggling, "But if Levy and Lily get to go home safe, I'll happily stay here."

"You really should listen to your friend, Wendy." Zancrow told her as politely as he could, "After all, what does it say about you if you can't take the deal? Gajeel gave himself up to save his feline friend; but all you've got to do to save your friend is just walk away! And yet, here you are, letting your pride get the better of you."

"It's not pride!" Wendy informed him honestly as she once again tried unsuccessfully to escape Gajeel's grasp, "I don't want to take your deal because they're all my friends; and I'm not going anywhere until you give them all back, right now!"

The room was silent as they watched Wendy rub her watering eyes with one hand before staring down Zancrow once again and speaking once again, having truly had more than enough of the dark wizard's scheming.

"If you want to take any of our people from us, I will fight you; and I'm not going to stop unless you kill me!"

The Dark Flame God Slayer met The Sky Maiden's glare with equal intensity, and only Romeo dared to speak in the middle of the exchange.

"Wendy!" He desperately yelled at her as quietly as he could, "What are you saying?! I know how strong you are, but you can't fight hi-"

"We can always fight, Romeo." The dragon slayer interrupted him while still aggressively staring at Zancrow, "What you really mean to say is that I can't win."

Romeo went quiet since he was unsure how to respond; and Wendy quickly spoke again before anyone else could join Romeo in arguing, still staring down Zancrow as she did.

"Everyone, please, listen to me!" She pleaded with some force before making her request, "If I fight him, I don't want any of you to interfere!"

Zancrow chuckled amusingly though he still looked at Wendy intensely; and he allowed Gajeel to release her while he silently appreciated her bravery before speaking to her and her allies.

"Well, you're definitely not that kid I ran into at Phantom Lord… You're an even dumber one, now! You really want to throw your life away, just for some foolish dream to save everyone? Well then, let me be the first to tell you this: whenever people like me are involved, you'll _never_ save everyone!"

Despite his harsh criticism of her, Wendy's defiant stance never waivered as she listened to him; and when Zancrow had finally finished, she let him smirk for a half-second more before making one simple conclusion.

"Then I guess that means I'll just have to kill you."

"Ha!" Zancrow cheered, finally breaking his eye contact with Wendy in order to tilt his head back and laugh, "You really do have a death wish, don't you? Fine! You wanna fight me this badly? I'll let you. And to hell with it, if you manage do the impossible and beat me; I'll even give all your friends back to you!"

"Wendy! Do not accept that offer!" Erza demanded nervously, "As your team's commander, I order you to stop this nonsense at once!"

"Seriously, stop!" Romeo added desperately, "Carla wouldn't want you to do this! I don't want you to do this!"

Wendy smiled warmly before glancing towards Romeo, who somehow was not comforted by her smile; and she only spoke after her friend could see how committed she was to her current plan.

"I know that, Romeo." She said seriously, "But I still have to do this. I'm sorry."

"Wendy…" Her friend whined in quiet defeat as he fought off the urge to get too upset.

"Rrrr, dammit!" Everyone heard Sting shout before almost the entire group was surprised to see him step forward and shout angrily at Wendy.

"Now you listen here, you little brat: if there's anyone here that's gonna kill that heap of crap, it's gonna be me!"

Zancrow tilted his head partially sideways in intrigue as he watched the White Dragon Slayer get in the Sky Maiden's face.

"You hear me, little girl?!" Sting continued to berate her, "If you try to take that from me, I don't care who you are; I'll kick your freakin' ass!"

Wendy was initially surprised by the Sabertooth master's actions; but after taking a second to pay attention to him, she quickly figured out what he was up to just as Zancrow cackled enthusiastically at them.

"Oh, this is too good!" He commented gleefully, "Now you're all fighting each other over me? Guys, I'm touched!"

"Would you shut up already?!" Both Wendy and Sting shouted at Zancrow angrily; and for the third time in so few moments, Zancrow found himself surprised by the pair's sheer audacity.

"I'll get to you in just a second!" Sting promised the dark wizard before returning to his staring contest with Wendy.

"Sting, you need to stay out of my way!" She said impatiently, "I already told you that I don't want anyone else to get involved!"

"Yeah, well, too bad!" He quipped angrily, "I said I was gonna kill him way before you even thought about fighting him; so if anyone's getting in the way of anything, it's you!"

The two dragon slayers were staring at each other so intensely, the others were too off-put to actually consider interrupting them.

"So what's is gonna be, princess?" Sting goaded Wendy one more time, "Are you going to get out my way, like a good little girl; or are gonna do something?!"

In the next instant, only two people were not surprised as Wendy punched Sting directly in the jaw with a right hook; and the white mage stumbled backwards at the impact while most of their spectator's jaws dropped.

"I warned you that this would happen, Sting!" Wendy told him irritably, "I have to fight Zancrow; and I'm not afraid to fight you too if you're going to stop me!"

Sting quickly regained his balance after taking a couple steps backwards; and while Romeo and Erza gasped in shock at the sight, Sting only grinned as he rubbed the side of his face before responding.

"That's better…" He remarked with surprising eagerness as he began to take a fighting stance, "Heh… To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to this."

 **Back on Earth, only minutes ago…**

After having decided to leave East City around late afternoon instead of staying there overnight, Igneel and Vesta had continued several miles north to easily discover the Seven-Star Dragon Ball in a heap of snow near the bottom of a snowy mountain valley; and since they were both slightly disappointed with the lack of challenge to completing their objective, Vesta challenged her partner to a foot race up the tallest mountain as soon as they had stashed the Dragon Ball with the others. Thinking of nothing better to do, Iga readily accepted; and they both sprinted their way up the valley before quickly reaching their destination in barely half a minute.

"Yes!" Vesta had declared triumphantly as she skidded to a halt just before she could run right off the edge of the mountain's summit, and she quickly spun around to taunt the loser of their race, "I told you I would win!"

"You did say that," Iga agreed before arguing, "But I think that was more of a tie than anything."

"Whaddaya talking about?" She quipped impatiently, "I crossed the finish line and turned around to see you, which means you must have lost!"

"Just 'cause you ran further doesn't mean you ran faster." He said matter-of-factly, and he grinned when he saw a vein in her forehead start to throb.

"Oh, shut up, Igneel!" She told him playfully before turning her back to him and grumbling, "You're just trying to rile me up because you're a sore loser."

"You're probably right." Iga revealed before flopping down into a small heap of snow in order to sit down and relax, "Care to join me?"

"And get my clothes wet by sitting in snow next to a warm-body like you?" She glanced back at him with her own smirk, "No thanks."

The Keeper of Light appreciated the view from the top before briefly surveying the surrounding area.

"So," She asked after a few seconds of silence, "Do we feel like camping tonight, or do we wanna use that capsule house again? 'Cause the only other places I can see nearby are this tiny little village to the northeast and some broken tower a little further north."

"Hmm…" Iga hummed thoughtfully before wondering, "How small's the village?"

"I don't know, maybe ten houses total?" She guessed without bothering to use her magic to be accurate, and she turned back to Iga to question him, "You plan on asking the locals for food or something?"

"Maybe." He answered amusingly, "But maybe I just wanna say hi."

"Heh, like you know anyone here." Vesta chuckled at him before moving to stand over him and adding, "And we might need food since we skipped East City, but I doubt there's anyone grocery shopping down there..."

"So we'll just do the 'road-show' act." He revealed his scheme lazily, but Vesta sneered at the idea.

"You mean the 'side-show' act." She corrected him before whining, "And come on, you know I hate that plan."

"Why?" He questioned rhetorically, "I'm sure we won't have to do much to entertain them. Small town people like these are usually easy to impress.

"Heck, they might even need our help with something around town." He added as his wife offered him a hand up, which he accepted as she responded to him.

"If we're lucky, that is." She commented skeptically, and Iga hopped to his feet with her help before he replied.

"Come on, we should probably head down there before it gets too late." He suggested as he walked to the cliff that overlooked the village; and Vesta agreed with him before they began to fly to an area near the village that Iga picked out, which took only a minute for them to reach.

"So what's the play?" Vesta asked as they landed and began to walk on the snow-covered road that led into the village, "Who are we this time?"

"We're us, of course." Iga replied with joke he never tired of using before seriously answering her, "But yeah, let's just say we're a couple of very talented fighters like we've been doing. We'll show 'em a few cool tricks, offer our abilities for food or money; and if they don't need help with anything, then we'll go along with the 'road-show' bit.

"But, you know, we may end up luckier than you think we are." He added thoughtfully after seeing his partner stick her tongue out in disgust at the very mention of the backup plan, "I'm sure a town surrounded by snow will have some use for our fire powers."

"Hopefully." Vesta agreed as she walked beside him; and they began to talk about less important topics as they neared the first of the village houses until they were in the center of town, from where they could see an over-sized man in a green jacket and blue turtleneck ducking his way out the wooden door of a pink, double-dome house.

"Oh?" The pair barely heard him talking to himself over the faint howl of the wind, "Strangers… out here?"

"Sounds like we've finally been spotted." Vesta prepared Iga to greet the man just in case he had not heard him.

"But, it is weird that we had to walk through half the town before we were." She added an observation before letting Iga take the lead.

"I don't think that's it." He replied quietly before concluding, "I'm thinking this guy is the welcoming committee."

"Hey there!" The two heard the large stranger call to them with a friendly wave as he began to hurry closer, "Wait there, please!"

Upon hearing the man's request, the pair halted and watched until the man lumbered towards them; and they realized he was much bigger than they realized as he finally neared them.

"Where's the fire, big guy?" Iga asked him playfully while quietly noting that the stranger was at least a head taller than him, and twice as wide as well.

"There's no fire." The large man said honestly, "I hurried over to meet you because I know how cold it is out here."

"Really?" Vesta remarked curiously, "You're a considerate one, aren't you?"

"I try to be." The large stranger confirmed bashfully before asking them, "Do either of you need a coat?"

The man was looking directly at Iga when he spoke, and Iga could tell the man was trying to avoid acting either too shocked or concerned about the fact that he was shirtless while walking through the snow.

"Thanks, but we'll be fine." Iga replied with an honest smirk, "The cold doesn't affect us."

"Really?" the man said curiously before adding amiably, "Most of the time, it doesn't bother me, either."

"How quaint." Vesta remarked dismissively, and Iga gave her a look that said 'be nice' before asking the man a question.

"I'm guessing you're not the only person in this village, are you?"

"I'm not," the man explained, "But the villagers asked me to start meeting all the new people that come here ever since we had trouble with some bandits nearly a week ago."

"Bandits?" Vesta perked up at the word, "You don't say…"

"Wait, you're not one of them, are you?" the stranger asked rather bluntly; and Vesta, while wondering why any intelligent bandits would ever honestly answer that question, smirked at the man's lack of cunning as Iga politely answered.

"I know we might look mean and tough, but we're not bandits." He said honestly, "We were just in the area, and we decided to see what's around."

"Finding some food wouldn't hurt, either." Vesta added pointedly, getting a smirk from her husband before the stranger spoke again.

"Well, if that is true, then you're more than welcome here in Jingle Village. My name's Eighter."

"It's nice to meet you, Eighter; my name is Igneel Flaremane," Iga surprised his partner by introducing himself with his full name before side stepping closer to her and wrapping his right arm over her shoulders, "And this is my wife Vesta."

"Hey." She said to Eighter while quietly enjoying being in her husband's grasp; and Eighter greeted her similarly before the three heard a young woman call out to them from the same pink house from before.

"Eighter? Is everything okay over there?"

Looking towards where the voice came from, they saw a red-haired woman with a yellow coat and wool knit cap walking towards them.

"Oh, sorry, Suno!" Eighter said as he suddenly realized he had forgotten to give the town the all-clear, "I was just about to bring our guests over, since they seem nice."

Igneel and Vesta both put on their best charming smile upon being complimented, but the newcomer to the conversation was slightly concerned for them.

"And they aren't cold, are they?" She wondered aloud, and the three all shook their heads at once.

"Actually, the cold's kinda nice." Iga admitted, who only shocked Suno more since he was shirtless, "Refreshing, really."

"But you're barely wearing anything…" She observed with some confusion; and Iga decided words might not be enough to convince her.

"Vesta likes to look fashionable; but neither of us need to wear anything to stay warm," He explained before holding out his left hand, "We can do stuff like this."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Iga made a snapping noise with his left thumb and ring finger before a small ball of red flame appeared in his hand; and Suno took half a step back in surprise while Eighter's gaze widened in awe.

"How are you-?" Suno slightly stuttered as she watched the flame dancing above Iga's open palm, "Is this some kind of magic trick?"

Iga and his wife both grinned at the mention of 'magic'; but they both shook their heads gently before Iga closed his hand to extinguish the flame and answered.

"Close." He told her while mixing the truth with some fiction, "But it's more like a physical ability we learned; you see, we're both martial artists."

"And we're both incredibly strong and talented." Vesta added.

"You look like it." Suno agreed with a hint of shyness as she realized the couple noticed she was staring at Iga's scarred, muscular torso; but the pair only smiled in appreciation for her compliment as she quietly apologized for staring.

"Aw, don't sweat it." Vesta told her jokingly, "I don't have a lot of money or fancy cars to show off, so I like it when people stare at my trophy husband. Just don't get too handsy with him."

"Hey…" Iga whined at being objectified, but Suno giggled with Vesta at his complaining while Eighter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"We should head inside before it gets dark," Suno suggested to Eighter after she stopped giggling, and she looked back to the red-head couple next, "You're a bit late for dinner, but I can make you something simple, if you'd like."

As if on cue, Iga's stomach grumbled loudly; and the couple both smirked with a bizarre mix of pride and embarrassment, though Eighter quickly recognized something about their behavior that felt weirdly familiar to him.

"We'd love that." Vesta chuckled; and Suno smiled back before leading them to the house with Eighter walking beside her.

"Hey, Suno," He whispered to her when they were halfway there, not knowing they couple could hear him, "Do these two seem familiar to you?"

"Kinda." She said even quieter, to the point that Iga was somehow struggling to hear what she was saying over the wind, "But I know haven't seen them before, either."

Though they were both glad to hear that their usual charm was rubbing off on the two, Vesta had noticed her husband's brow furrowing in thought.

"Hey guy," Iga asked with a curious tone, "You said your name is Eighter, right?"

"That's right." Eighter answered with some nervous relief since he was worried Iga had overheard him.

"No offense, but I can't help but think that it's an odd name." The immortal remarked as politely as he could before failing to resist his urge to crack a joke, "Did your parents have too many kids or something?"

Suno giggled again while Vesta gave Iga a scolding glare for potentially insulting the man, but Eighter only smiled in shy amusement before looking back to them and answering Iga.

"No, it's not that. Believe it or not, I actually don't have any parents; I'm an android."

Vesta gave Eighter an intrigued look while Iga only appeared pensive as he connected dots in his mind.

"Then, you must have been the eighth one that was made?" The female Flaremane concluded; and Eighter nodded before Iga made a realization aloud, just as they were near the pink house.

"Your creator would happen to have been Dr. Gero, was it?"

Iga grinned when he immediately got his answer, seeing both Eighter and Suno instantly freeze in shock at the fact that he knew about the mad scientist; and the redhead grinned knowingly as they both turned to face him.

"How do you know about him?" Eighter asked with nervous curiosity.

"I have a few friends that fought and made friends with Androids 17 and 18 a long time ago." Iga revealed with his iconic grin, "In fact, I like to think I'm part of their team now, too. 'The Z Fighters'… It's not a phrase they use often, but it's got a nice ring to it."

"Excuse me, sir," Suno asked him curiously, "But you said you two are martial artists?"

Iga and Vesta promptly answered her simultaneously.

"That's right."

"Sure did."

Suno stepped a bit closer to them interest as she asked her real question,

"Do you two know Goku?"

Both Iga and Vesta grinned before they both chuckled.

"Know him?" Vesta repeated the question, "Boy, do we. Not too long ago, his son nearly kicked the crud outta my hubby here."

"Really?" Suno looked to Iga for confirmation, who nodded before speaking again.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to be surprised." remarked in amusement, "I brush up on my all my rival's backgrounds, but I'll admit I kinda skimmed over Goku's early days."

Suno and Eighter did not completely understand what Iga was talking about towards the end of his statement, but they set their confusion aside to focus on the more interesting topic.

"Oh, well now you must come inside," Suno insisted with polite eagerness, "After all, I'd be more than happy to make a huge meal for any of Goku's friends, no matter how late it is!"

The couple grinned and nodded eagerly before their host opened the door for them, and they walked through with Eighter in tow before taking their shoes off and setting them by the door.

"Mmm… I can smell whatever you had for dinner," Iga purred pleasantly before looking to Suno and complimenting her, "And I can already tell that you must be an amazing cook."

"Thanks," She replied gratefully while taking off her coat and cap before she directed them towards the one of the seats in her living room, "You can wait here while I make your dinner, if you'd like."

Without needing any more invitations to get comfy, Vesta brushed the snow out of her hair before leaping over the couch in the center of the room and gently landing on it with her legs crossed; and Iga politely walked around the couch as his wife turned and laid across the couch to rest her head on the couch's arm, which prompted a scolding from him when he tried to take the seat her feet and legs were occupying.

"Hey, don't be greedy." He told her playfully; and she rolled her eyes at him before briefly moving her feet back, only just to rest them on his lap after he sat down.

Eighter watched them in amusement as he sat in an over-sized armchair that faced the couch; and Iga gave his wife a warning look before giving up and getting as comfy as he could.

"So, Eighter," He wondered as he crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back as far as he could, "How do you know Goku? I'm guessing he beat he up somebody for you?"

"He fought a lot of people for us," The android explained eagerly, since this story was his favorite to tell, "If you know about Dr. Gero, then you must know about the Red Ribbon Army, right?"

Iga nodded to allow Eighter to continue.

"Well, the army came here once a long time ago to find a Dragon Ball."

"So, that wrecked tower to the north..." Vesta deduced quickly, "Was that their fortress or something?"

"It was." Eighter confirmed, "It wasn't their headquarters, but they kept plenty of soldiers there."

"And who was the one to knock it down?" Iga asked curiously before guessing, "Goku?"

"No," Eighter answered with a shake of his head, "I did that, after I realized how horrible those army commanders were."

"That explains how you ended up living with the village." Iga remarked thoughtfully, which Eighter nodded in response to.

"And it was all thanks to Goku's help." He informed the pair, "Without him, none of those evil men would have ever left this village alone."

"But there's some new type of trouble now, isn't there?" Iga questioned him casually, "You mentioned bandits, right?"

"That's right, it seems like a group of them camped out in the mountains to the southwest," Eighter replied, "Although, they're nothing compared to the Red Ribbon Army. So far, we've only seen one or two of them; but the chief and a few others are worried there'll be more, eventually."

"There always are." Iga sighed depressingly before quickly perking up, "But hey, since you guys are nice enough to take in two complete strangers and feed them for nothing, we'll take care of those bandits for you. Heck, I'll even scare them so terribly that they'll go home telling stories about us; that way, you shouldn't have to worry about dealing with a big group of bad guys for a while."

"Really? You will?" Eighter replied hopefully, and Iga nodded before the android began to thank him and Vesta; but Iga noticed his wife was slightly distracted as he responded to Eighter's gratitude.

"You really don't have to thank us," He said while glancing towards Vesta to see her eyes were closed, making him wonder if she was even listening as he carried on, "After all, we're just repaying one favor with another."

Eighter was in the middle of complimenting the man's modesty when Vesta abruptly interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, Igneel?" She said with a faint tone of concern in her voice that only Iga could recognize, "You know that girl you asked me to keep an eye on? I think she's about to get into a world of trouble."

"Yeah?" Iga quickly faced his wife as he replied, "What kinda trouble?"

"I think you should see for yourself." She answered cryptically; and Eighter, though slightly confused, could not help but feel nervous at the concerned look on Iga's face.

"Hey, Eighter," He asked curiously, "How much longer do you think this 'big meal' is gonna take Suno to make?"

The android pondered the answer for a brief moment with a hum before guessing, "Ten minutes, maybe?"

"I can work with that." Iga remarked before asking another question, "Tell me, how good are you at keeping a secret? We really don't want other people to know that we can do what I'm about to do; but this sounds like it's an emergency. So, I'm gonna need you to pretend that you never saw or heard anything weird while we were waiting, okay?"

"Okay…" Eighter responded in slow confusion; and he was about to say he was not that good of a liar when Iga interrupted him.

"Fantastic! Thank you, my new friend." He said quickly before waving his right hand to create a small portal before himself, which made an already confused and flattered Eighter gasp in shock at the mirror version of the image that suddenly manifested before the redhaired man; but Iga was busy doing a double-take in shocked concern at what he was seeing, until he finally sighed sadly.

"Well, that's just downright inconvenient."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII: Retribution

 **Inside the main hall of Akane Resort…**

"I really am sorry about this, Sting," Wendy said tensely as she readied herself to fight as well, and she surprised a few of her spectators by grinning with some excitement before admitting something to him, "But if I'm being completely honest, I've been waiting to test myself against another dragon slayer for a while now."

"Well, now you've got your chance." Sting remarked before adding, "But you better remember that I warned you about how bad you might get hurt, you got it?"

"Oh, please." Wendy surprisingly teased him, "The only thing I'm worried about is showing off too many of my new moves while I get you out my way. The master of the second-best guild in the kingdom should make for a decent warm-up match for someone like me."

"Take that back, you ass!" Sting growled angrily, and white light shined from the palms of his hands for an instant before he continued to speak, "Sabertooth is the best damn guild in all of Earthland!"

"Guys, please!" Romeo made one final attempt to end the apparent nonsense, "We can't be fighting each other right now! You guys should both fight him!"

"No can do, runt!" Zancrow informed him aggressively, "My deal is with Wendy, and no one else. If anyone else tries to resist me; I'll let them watch as I kill everyone else. Except for Sting, of course. If he's crazy enough to beat her down just to get to me, I think I can at least entertain him."

"Bastard…" The group heard Jellal swear before Romeo could; but Zancrow only continued to smirk at their insults as he continued to watch Sting and Wendy's escalating argument.

"You heard him, Wendy! It's either you or me; so let's get this over with! White Drive!"

The White Dragon Slayer's body began to glow brilliantly white once more; and his shiny skin soon turned to scale as he simultaneously activated his Dragon Force, which created an even more blinding light that their spectators' eyes struggled to adjust to. But Wendy only grinned eagerly before beginning to power up herself; and the people watching her quickly widened their eyes in amazement after feeling the air fill with intense magic energy, although the real shock was the sight of an unfamiliar pale-blue aura she was sudden surrounded by as well.

Sting gave her a confused look upon trying to sense her all her powers; but Erza quickly figured it out aloud.

"That power…" The Knight began to observe; but Jellal finished her sentence, "It's ki."

Even Sting briefly glanced towards the pair curiously before looking back to his opponent cautiously as he listened.

"She must have learned how to use it from Goten," The former Saint remarked ponderously; and Romeo nodded before confirming his educated guesses aloud.

"That's right; Wendy mostly trained and developed techniques by herself; though," The young man explained with some pride in partner before his tone shifted into slight curiosity, "But now that I think about it; besides the basics, I don't think I've seen anything Goten might have taught her…"

"And probably for good reason." Erza added pointedly, which Romeo shrugged in agreement with before Sting spoke up.

"So what if she's got a neat trick or two up her sleeve?!" He interrupted them while slamming a foot down in impatience, "It's not gonna be enough to beat me!"

Waiting no longer for their opponent to back down, Wendy and Sting both cocked their heads back while inhaling; and the spectators, while also near blind from Sting's shining aura, briefly had no way to breath as Wendy took all the air from the room.

"White Dragon's… Holy Breath!"

"Sky Dragon's… Roar!"

The air came rushing back to the audience in an instant, though their ability to see only got worse; as both combatants' spells quickly collided and exploded. Romeo was shoved a few feet backwards while even Zancrow was forced to put a slight effort in standing straight against the shockwave. But while the bystanders were busy holding their ground, the two slayers were already calling out their next attacks.

"Sky Dragon's…

"White Dragon's…

Before the smoke could clear, Wendy leapt forward with the start of a counter-clockwise twirl just as Sting charged directly at her.

"Claw!"

"Holy Fist!"

Wendy directed all her momentum into her right leg to finish the spin just as Sting tried to hit her with a right hook, which quickly became an uppercut out of necessity; and both attacks collided to result in another large explosion.

This time, Romeo was shoved backwards until he slipped and fell over; and he mumbled to himself bitterly as he slowly got back up.

"Ah… what am I doing worrying about _them_? This fight's gonna get _me_ killed…"

By the time he was seated upright, he was able to see the two fighters had apparently begun trying to punch and kick each other a few times; but since they both were failing to land a blow, the two leapt away from each other before cocking their right hands back. A modest-sized orb of white light appeared in Sting's hand just as Wendy, while guessing what her opponent's next move was, created a similarly-sized pale blue sphere of air and energy in her hand as well; and they both fired their attacks at each other in the blink of an eye with a yell.

"White Dragon's Claw!"

"Sky Dragon's Air Wave!"

The blue ball that once hovered over Wendy's palm quickly became a short beam that collided with the quick blast of light Sting had shoved at her; and Romeo weakly sighed in relief that the shockwave from this third exchange had less force, although there was an odd heat coming from the blast that he did not expect.

"Incredible…" Jellal remarked to no one in particular, "She incinerated Sting's stigma with her ki…"

"In an instant…" Romeo added with even more shock in his tone than Jellal's.

"Rrrr…" Sting growled vehemently at their compliments of his current enemy, "You're really starting to piss me off, Wendy!"

"Good, because I'm trying to!" The Sky Maiden told him aggressively before taunting him again, "Maybe then you'll actually use enough strength to hurt me!"

"Are you accusing me of holding back?!" He demanded from her, but he did not wait for her answer as he charged at her with another yell, "You're one to talk, you brat! Now, take this: White Dragon's Holy RAY!"

Wendy saw Sting begin to put his hands together as he spoke, and she quickly thought up a decent counter to his attack as she once again recognized the stance he was taking. Just as the many brilliant rays of light began to rush towards her, she waved both of her arms before herself with a shout of her own.

"Sky Dragon's Wave Wind!"

Sting's projectiles were quickly mixed into the swirling tornado; and the audience could not help but appreciate the spectacular sight the mixture resulted in, even though most of them were struggling to breath or stay standing in the intense air current.

Unable to accept his attack being cancelled out, Sting took no time to admire the aesthetics of his battle, instead deciding to charge head long into twister; and he angrily punched through the base of it with his right fist, making it dissipate in a second as he broke through and leapt toward Wendy.

This time, however, the Sky Maiden did not allow him to approach her; and as soon as she could see him leaping towards her, she cleverly created an invisible ki barrier in the air before him. Sting recoiled as soon as his face impacted the ki wall; and Wendy promptly dispelled it before leaping through and finishing her counterattack.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

Slashing at Sting's torso with the back of her left hand, Wendy quickly twisted her body left to follow him as he jerked his body backwards and leapt to his right; and she instantly used her right hand to fire a blue energy blast, which grew into the size of Sting's head before it collided into his chest and exploded. Sting was instantly sent flying backwards toward Zancrow, who lazily sidestepped him; and the White Dragon Slayer only halted his flight when he collided into the pile of rubble that was once behind the dark mage, creating a cloud of dust and debris in the process.

"Sky Dragon Slayer's Secret Art…" The Sky Maiden brutally began to finish her assault with one overpowered spell; and a new whirling vortex began to spin around her as she raised her hands while extending her arms fully to both sides.

"Shattering Light..." She said as she quickly brought her left hand before herself white rotating her arms until both palms were facing her target; and Sting had only just managed to leap back onto his feet when Wendy began to spin and twist her body with the air's current while her open hands began to steer it where she desired.

"SKY DRILL!"

As soon as she was nearly finished a full spin around, Wendy used her right hand to throw the entire vortex at Sting, causing it to take on a more focused, beam-like shape that was more than large enough to engulf its target; and Sting could only yell in pain as he and the broken ground he was standing on were blasted further away from everyone.

Romeo was gawking in shock at the intensity, and near brutality, of Wendy's attacks. He knew she was always a different person when she was fighting, but he had never seen this side of her before. And as he watched the dust settle to reveal Wendy had already retaken a casual stance, he finally got his chance to see the face of this 'other her'. As she confidently turned to face Zancrow, Romeo saw a bizarre mix of pride, amusement, and anger on her face; but it was the wildness in her eyes that had truly grabbed his attention. Even when the triumphant and amused smirk quickly left her face as she faced the dark mage, the wildness remained in her eyes; and Romeo could not decide whether he found the look to be totally attractive or absolutely terrifying.

"Well damn," Zancrow chuckled as he admired the perfectly smooth, five-foot-deep trench Wendy was walking away from, "Excuse the pun, but that… that was magical…"

"Shut up and get ready." Wendy replied straightforwardly, causing Zancrow to merely widen his grin again before happily complying; and they both made readying stances as Wendy began to power up once again.

"Arms, Ile Arms! Armor, Ile Armor! Vernier, Ile Vernier! Elemental resistance, rise! Physical ability, rise!"

The spectators stared in awe at the multi-colored display of lights radiating from Wendy as she casted enchantment after enchantment on herself, with Romeo's jaw dropping from the sight and sense her magic gave off; but she was not finished preparing yet.

"I promise you, Zancrow," She shouted confidently, "This fight is not going to be as easy as you think!"

Wendy began to yell in intense effort as she powered up; and the ground cracked beneath her before pieces of the battle-worn ceiling way above them began crumble and fall around her, though every bit was incinerated by her ki's aura well before it could land on her or the ground. But the real spectacle for their audience was the sight of her hair flashing from blue to pink as it also grew rapidly in length while somehow slightly pointing upward; and her eyes simultaneously changed to the same color as her hair just as shiny white crystalline scales grew from her wrists, ankles, and over the back of her shoulders.

"She's using Dragon Force, too?!" Rogue observed with some shock, "But that's supposed to be impossible; I thought she needed ethernano to do that!"

"Yes, YES!" Zancrow cheered her on excitedly as he held his stance, "Keep going, get as strong as you can; and then go further!

"I'll accept nothing less, you hear me?! When I kill you, I want you to have no excuses for your failure!"

 **Back on Earth…**

Iga had been watching the projected image before him intently as he listened to every possible thing he could hear coming through the rift, but he was momentarily struggling to form a solution to his current predicament, however; and he soon found himself scratching his head until a bolt of inspiration struck him.

"Wait a minute…" He began to whisper before looking back to his wife, "Hey, Ves? You can see anywhere you want, right? _Anywhere?_ "

Vesta gave him a slightly puzzled look until she realized what he was getting at.

"You don't mean _there_ there, do you?" She wondered aloud just as quietly, and she grimaced when he nodded quickly, "Dunno, never wanted to try."

"Do you want to now?" Iga asked suggestively.

"Not really." She said flatly.

"Vesta!" Her husband began to scold her before she quickly gave in.

"Alright, fine, I'll try!" She whined next, "Jeez…"

Closing her eyes, Vesta focused her powers as hard as she could; but she was surprised to find herself unsuccessful.

"Huh." She remarked with a mix of relief and disappointment, "I guess I can't see everything."

"You had no problem looking into my personal dimension, couldn't you?" Iga questioned her curiously, "How come you can't see into his?"

"I can see into the Sanctuary because it's entirely made of light," She reminded him before concluding with some surprise, "But Edo must live in a place that's completely devoid of light… it's a wonder he hasn't gone blind."

"Not with his magic, it isn't." Iga took his turn to remind her of something, "To him, the darkest shade of dark is still bright to him, just like how the brightest light imaginable could still look dim to us."

"Brightest light imaginable?" Vesta repeated empty-mindedly, and Iga could see her beginning to salivate like a dog at whatever mental image she was conjuring, "I could go for something like that right now."

"Go for…" Iga began to repeat until he remembered one of the newer abilities his wife had from being a Keeper, "Hey, now's not the time for snacking; or for stealing my schtick! Come on, Ves, there's gotta be some way to see into that Shadow."

"I wouldn't be so sure, but…" She said thoughtfully as she genuinely attempted to find a workaround, "I can keep trying, at least…"

"There has to be a way, there just has to!" Iga continued to insist, "I mean, he's gotta be exposed to light at some point when he's… wait!

"Ves, we don't have to look directly for the Shadow!" He suddenly realized the solution aloud, "We've got to look where he's looking!"

"That might work, actually…" She agreed contemplatively before using her power to examine the same area her husband was watching, "Let's see…"

"Try and find us that way first, if you need to get a better idea of what we're looking for." Iga suggested helpfully, "My portal on the other side is about the size of a key hole, just to left of the people. I have no clue where Edo's could be, but I'd check the shady spots around the battlefield."

After a second of silence, Vesta slowly spoke again as she commentated on what she saw.

"Okay, I can see your magic… now, let's see if I can track the light that actually comes through it…

"Yes!" She declared excitedly while almost forgetting to keep quiet, "This is actually gonna work!"

"Okay, great," Iga replied quickly before lifting his wife's legs off him and standing up as he quickly changed his magic's destination, "Now, you keep looking for Edo's magic while I get some help; I've got a plan, but I need someone specific to make it work -she's got something I need, too."

"Yeah, sure." Vesta remarked as she was already focused on her end of the plan, "You better get to it."

Without another word, Iga widened the portal before him until it was near the size of a door; and he began to walk through it until stopping halfway, quickly turning around to face Eighter as he did.

"Hey, robo-man?" He asked the very confused android, "Wanna come along?"

 **In West City…**

Lisanna Strauss had been struggling to get sleep for a while now, as she often did when sleeping in Trunks' bed alone; but her fit of restlessness tonight was something different. For one, she was still slightly angry with her boyfriend for running off and disappearing with Goten and Natsu without saying a word to her; but that, and a few other reasons, were to trivial to her. The real feeling that was bothering her was something intuitive, like she had missed or forgotten something important; but she could not figure out what that something exactly was, no matter how hard she tried.

Over the span of at least an hour and a half, she was constantly changing positions trying to get comfortable, though she never did; and she had finally begun to get frustrated with herself when she suddenly heard a small commotion come from the bathroom, jolting instantly upright as soon as she heard what sounded like someone falling over and hitting the ground roughly.

"Hey, take it easy, man!" She heard a very recognizable voice whine in a hushed tone, "You didn't have to run through it, you know…"

Lisanna sighed with annoyed relief at realizing who her uninvited guest was, but then she was confused when she heard a voice she did not recognize.

"Sorry…" A man with a very deep voice quietly apologized, to which the other man replied quickly.

"It's okay, I forgive you. Now, I think you might wanna wait here until I've talked to her first… Hopefully, we didn't wake her up with all that racket."

"You didn't." Lisanna informed the two with her voice slightly raised; and the following awkward silence caused her to smirk before she told them what to do, "Now, both of you wait there while I get decent."

"Okay," Her friend said through the bathroom door, "But we don't have time for all the works, Lisanna; just throw something on and let me in."

"Yes, Master Iga." She used his title teasingly as she hopped out of bed. She had to admit, though, there was a hint of urgency in his voice; so she quickly decided to grab the nearest clothes she could fit into.

She grabbed a black pair of short-shorts and pulled them over her pink and white striped panties before taking off Trunks' white t-shirt to change into the black tube top that was near the shorts, thinking a matching outfit might make her look halfway nice enough to make a good impression on whoever Iga brought with him; and she told Iga he could come in just as she finished donning her new shirt.

"Thank you, Lisanna." Iga tried to open the conversation with some humor, "I gotta admit: it was getting a little awkward in there."

The takeover mage smirked faintly at him before cutting to the chase.

"What do you want, Iga? Do you know how late it is?"

"I do, and I'm sorry about that." Iga quickly apologized, "But you know I wouldn't drop in like this unless it's an emergency."

"Okay, so what is it?" She questioned him, though she did not expect to hear the answer she soon did.

"I need you to go to Earthland with a new friend of mine, his name's Eighter…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" She interrupted him in confusion, "You want me to go back? But I thought you didn't want me to do that until the Keepers were gone…."

"That was the plan," Iga conceded, "But that was because we would all be here on Earth to protect you. If me and Vesta are watching you, I'm sure you'll be okay."

"Alright, well…" Lisanna agreed as she slowly wondered, "Who is this other guy you want me to go with? Eighter?"

"That's right, he's Android No. 8 actually; but let's not get hung up on that right now." Iga answered much faster than she asked, "What we need to be worried about is saving your friends in Fairy Tail from imminent doom."

Iga had spoken so casually that Lisanna almost missed the severity of the warning he was giving.

"Fairy Tail needs my help? Well, why did you say it had something to do with them from th- wait…" She remarked with a mind to scold Iga until she completely realized everything he said, "What do you mean 'imminent doom'?!"

 **Back on Earthland…**

Zancrow effortlessly dodged most of Wendy's attacks, although she was quick and clever enough to force him to block a few strikes; and he continued to dance around her swipes, kicks, and punches for a couple of minutes before getting just as bored as his opponent seemed frustrated.

Both wizards leapt away from each other at the same time; but while Zancrow was planning to stop and taunt her as soon as he landed, Wendy only used her time in the air to attack once again.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Zancrow landed before grinning pridefully and holding his right hand out while taunting her.

"Don't you remember, moron? My flames will consume any air you send my way!"

Meeting Wendy's attack with his open hand, Zancrow quickly conjured flames around his entire limb before he was briefly surprised to find out that he was wrong; and instead, he found himself having to physically hold back the blast while using ki to shield himself.

Zancrow was waiting for the spell to explode against his shield; but that moment never came, as Wendy abruptly ended her roar before leaping towards her target with another yell.

"Sky Dragon's Jet Stream!"

The people watching her saw Wendy dart past Zancrow in the blink of an eye; and though she never tried to strike him, the wake she created in the magically enhanced air violently trailed behind her while widening to smash and knock over any obstacle in its path.

"Rrgh, dammit!" Zancrow growled angrily as he felt his ki barrier get smashed open by the sheer force of her attack, "How?!"

Suddenly realizing he would need to take this battle seriously, the dark wizard finally began to power up.

"Oh no, you don't!" Wendy remarked irritably before pegging him in the head with a quick ki blast to annoy him while drawing his focus, "You should have done that earlier! Sky Dragon's Air Cannon!"

Quickly throwing her hand together at the wrist before herself, with her hands open and all her fingers closed save for her thumbs, Wendy fired a massive, light blue beam of ki and air directly at Zancrow; and he only had time enough to shield himself once again, though the mere fact he was doing so angered him further.

Meanwhile, standing a few yards behind the other spectators, Lisanna could not believe what she was seeing. In fact, the only thing she was not surprised by was the fact that no one had noticed her appearing behind them, as the fight before her was such an astonishing spectacle that even she was struggling with the urge to watch. Shaking her head at herself before regaining her focus, the takeover mage briefly brushed some dust and debris off the front of the light-blue Capsule Corp jacket she 'borrowed' on her way out before glancing towards where her travel companion should be.

She saw Eighter standing near a five-foot trench behind the two battling mages; and she grinned satisfactorily, knowing that she could see someone no one else could thanks to Vesta's magic. The android saw her grinning, so he waved to her and gave her a thumbs-up; but she quickly gestured for him to stay focused before finally jogging up to her friends.

"Erza, Jellal!" She called to them over the loud boom of another explosion; and three of the four people standing before her leapt in surprise at her voice.

"Lisanna?" Erza instantly questioned her eyes while Jellal also gave the takeover mage a puzzled expression.

"In the flesh." She confirmed with a weak attempt at a humorous smirk before quickly getting serious, "But I'll explain how I'm here later. Right now, we have to worry about stopping this!"

"There's nothing we can do, Lisanna!" Romeo tried to inform her, "Zancrow's got a bunch of hostages, and Wendy told all of us not to interfere anyway!"

"Not all of us." Lisanna pointed out before making the most casual pose she could think of and adding, "Don't worry, guys, I've got a plan."

Looking to Rogue next, Lisanna instantly had a quizzical look that Erza noticed easily.

"Zancrow's controlling him," The Knight explained grudgingly, "He hasn't been allowed to move or speak for a few minutes now."

"I see." Lisanna observed thoughtfully as she stepped past Erza and Romeo to stand before the Shadow Dragon Slayer and attempted to console him.

"Don't worry, Rogue," She said while gently touching one of his forearms, "We're gonna get you free, along with everyone else."

"Thank you." Rogue sighed with grateful relief.

Doing exactly as she recalled Iga's directions, Lisanna removed her hand from Rogue and reached into her jacket to pull out Iga's magic remote, which was Vesta's magic was also making invisible to everyone else but her and Eighter; and she gently pressed the small orb against his sternum before it began to do its work.

The three beside her watched Lisanna place her hand on the shadow wizard's chest at a bizarre angle before a white aura began to envelope Rogue; and they all heard Zancrow suddenly gasp in surprise at something before another explosion rang out.

"You better not look away! If you do, I'll kill you!" They quickly turned to see Wendy was taunting Zancrow once again.

"Tch! Shut it, you overconfident fool!" He shouted before lifting both hands skyward to create a massive black sphere of fire and ki above himself, "You're nothing to me; and you're about to learn that the hard way!"

Throwing the attack directly at Wendy without pause, Zancrow quickly turned to face his audience while angrily yelling at them as a massive explosion went off behind him.

"Oh, what have you idiots done no-

"What?!" He immediately interrupted himself as he saw Rogue was no longer standing where he put him, and Lisanna Strauss was standing directly in the spot where he once was, "How did you get there; and what did you do with my damn puppet?!"

"His name is Rogue," Lisanna reminded the dark wizard impatiently, "And I just sent him somewhere that's way out of your reach!"

Zancrow simmered with anger before the flames around his body began to grow rapidly to mirror his ire; and he took a step forward before planting his feet and aiming a palm at the whole group.

"I'm gonna kill you for that!" He swore as a fiery sphere as big as himself appeared before his hand; but he was interrupted before he could fire off the blast.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" They all heard Wendy shout, from seemingly out of nowhere, just before seeing her slash the right side of Zancrow's face with her left hand; and the dark wizard gasped in pain as the air that formed the claws on her fingertips dug four half-inch cuts along his face before he could retreat.

The black ball of flame and ki instantly vanished as Wendy twirled through where it once was before landing smoothly to face Zancrow once again while he landed at a safer distance from her; and he quickly touched his stinging new injury with his left hand before looking at the blood on it in intense frustration, refusing to believe he had just been humiliated so terribly.

"Thanks for the opening, Lisanna." Wendy thanked her friend to greet her, though she stayed focused on Zancrow as she spoke.

"Don't mention it." The takeover mage responded politely, "Thanks for not letting him kill me just now."

"No problem," Wendy said with a grim smirk before Zancrow finally began to speak once again as he finished wincing from the pain.

"Ngh… I guess I deserved that one…" He remarked with an honest grin that vaguely concealed his anger before he looked between the two young women an added, "Letting myself get distracted like that, it's shameful…"

"It happens to the best of us." Lisanna taunted him by consoling him.

"Yeah, well, not many people travel across a universe or two just to interrupt your fight!" He retorted angrily before demanding information from her, "And how the hell did you even get here? My Master told me you were on Earth!"

Even Wendy momentarily forgot about the battle at hand after hearing that small piece of information, as all the guild wizards instantly turned to Lisanna while looking for confirmation of what they heard; and Lisanna immediately felt awkward.

"You were on Earth, Lisanna?" Wendy asked her, and the disbelieving-yet-hopeful tone Wendy asked with only made Lisanna feel worse.

"Uh…" She began reluctantly as she failed to think of any good way to start this conversation, "Yeah?"

And once more, the surprised look on Wendy's face made the conversation even more difficult for Lisanna; but Zancrow only saw an opportunity to get in his enemies' heads.

"Hah! She's been living there for months!" He informed the group before him bluntly, "In fact, I'd say she's more of an Earthling now than anything!"

"You shut up, right now!" Lisanna argued immediately, "I know where my home is!"

"You do, huh?" Zancrow ignored her command to be silent, "So then, you didn't move all your stuff out of your sister's house like we saw? 'Cause I could have sworn the Capsule Corporation was your new home now!"

Lisanna glared at the dark wizard, knowing that he was right. Between living at both Iga's Sanctuary and on Earth, the only thing Lisanna ever kept at her brother and sister's home now was a few sets of clothes.

"How did you get to Earth, Lisanna?" Erza wondered aloud before anyone else could.

"I have a friend," She cryptically answered before quickly trying to change the subject, "But come on, guys; now's not the time for this!"

"As curious as I am, she's right." Jellal chimed in before looking back to Zancrow and adding, "Right now, we've got a much bigger fish to fry."

Wendy was not satisfied with ending the conversation, but she could not disagree with Jellal either; and her whole group turned back to facing Zancrow with her as she prepared to resume her fight against him, although Lisanna briefly drew her attention to say something to her.

"Wendy, wait. You're still serious about fighting him alone, aren't you?"

The Sky Maiden nodded before the takeover mage continued; and she was a little surprised when Lisanna stepped closer and hugged her.

"Don't get killed just yet, okay?" She requested caringly; but then she halfway ended their embrace before sneakily handing Wendy Iga's invisible remote with a sly wink as she added, "When the time is right, I promise I'll tell you everything."

"Don't worry, Lisanna, a man like him will never be able to kill me." Wendy grinned with her back to Zancrow as she replied; and she nimbly slipped the small orb into a pocket before finishing her sentence, "I promise."

Turning back to Zancrow with her fists clenched, Wendy did not allow him the chance to tease them over the emotions.

"Shut up." She told him preemptively, which made him smirk knowingly before she added, "I'm not here to listen to your jokes, Zancrow; I'm here to kill you."

"Heh," Zancrow replied as they both returned to fighting stances, "You know what? I think I actually will miss you when you're gone."

 **In the Shadow of the World…**

Edo and Cel Rhea had watched Lisanna's interruption of their ally's battle with immense interest, having both been surprised to see her on Earthland; and Cel had quickly questioned what she was seeing while Edo only began to wonder where Igneel was. And after seeing Wendy turn to face Lisanna, Edo finally found his answer in a way that caught him totally by surprise as a bright beam of light suddenly began to shine directly in his and Cel's faces.

"Gah!" He gasped as he and his girlfriend shielded their eyes, "What is-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard an annoying familiar voice calling out to him.

"Coming through!" Iga declared with a grin as he burst forth from the blinding light; and he managed to plant a foot on Cel's forehead before slamming her head against the wall to halt his flight, rendering her unconscious in less than a fraction of a second.

"IGNEEL!" Edo instantly roared in anger; but Iga only quickly apologized to them before firing a large red and white blast at the man, who quickly melted into the floor to avoid being blasted.

"You've made a grave error coming here, Igneel!" Edo's voice boomed from all directions, "Don't you remember?! You can't touch me in here!"

"Wanna bet?" Iga challenged his rival eagerly; and before Edo could actually accept or refuse the challenge, Iga began to yell intensely as he wildly flared all of his magic energy in all directions with one goal in mind.

"Wait…" Edo suddenly began to realize the purpose of Iga's visit was not to fight him, "What are you doing?!"

"What's it look like, Acnologia?!" He paused his yelling only to taunt the dark wizard, "I'm evicting you!"

"You can't!" Edo began to explain, "If you do what I think you're going to, you could tear the fabric of reality apart and kill us all!"

"Well, we won't find out until we try, will we?" Iga remarked dismissively before firing off one of the most powerful spells he had ever casted,

"LIGHT DRAGON GOD's SUPERNOVA!"

 **Inside Akane Resort…**

Wendy was finally beginning to show signs of exhaustion as she finished leaping back from Zancrow once again; but this time, she was not as frustrated with her inability to harm him as she was from her last few attempts, despite her foe's best attempts to get under her skin.

"Hey, you're looking a little bit winded there, Sky Maiden." He said teasingly as he noticed Wendy was starting to take heavier breathes, "Don't tell me that you're getting tired on me now."

"I'm not." Wendy lied as she wiped some sweat off her forehead.

"Good," Zancrow remarked menacingly, "Because I haven't even tried to kill you yet; and it'd be no fun if you were too worn out to defend yourself."

Wendy was about to come up with a rebuttal when the entire building began to quake violently, with even Zancrow wondering who or what was causing the powerful tremors until a small bright white light seemed to appear in the rear center of the room; and everyone present stopped to see what seemed to be something like a gash in the air, which was bleeding white light as it slowly began to open.

"What the?" Zancrow began until the light suddenly burst open, at which moment Lisanna shouted over the commotion.

"Wendy, now!"

Instantly glancing back to Lisanna and Wendy, Zancrow did not expect to be tackled from above by Sting Eucliffe, although no one else was expecting that outcome either.

"Gotcha!" The White Dragon Slayer declared gleefully before slapping a stigma right onto the top of Zancrow's head; and despite her initial confusion, Wendy was able to quickly take advantage of the moment.

"Come on, let's do this!" Sting told her quickly as she darted over to him and Zancrow; and the dark wizard began to aggressively protest his current predicament.

"No, damnit! Let! ME! GO!" He demanded angrily, trying to quickly burn the stigma off his head until Wendy laid her hands on one of his arms while Sting kept him pinned to the ground; and with a nod to each other, both began using their magic the same way they used it on Orga.

"NOO!" Zancrow howled miserably while Erza, Jellal, and Romeo were torn between watching him and what was happening yards beyond him: as a mysterious man with wild red hair appeared with all the hostages Zancrow had taken, standing over them with weak grin while they slept peacefully.

"Good job, Eighter; now go home and relax, you've earned it!" They heard the man giving some mysterious and unseen person instructions.

"No way!" Romeo cheered at the near-miraculous sight before the Enenrae, Macbeth, and Sawyer finally received orders from a suddenly-desperate Zancrow.

Trying to get past everyone else and free the dark mage quickly, Sawyer and Gajeel were cut off in a flash by the scarred and shirtless stranger.

"Sorry about this, guys!" The man told them before knocking them both out with one spinning kick.

Jellal saw Macbeth also beginning to attack the two on top of Zancrow, and he did not hesitate to punch his guildmate unconscious as soon as he realized the hostages were safe.

"Erza, Wendy needs help!" The Knight suddenly heard Happy's voice ring out from above, "Those monsters got her surrounded!"

Needing no more directions than that, Erza leapt over the three wizards in the room's center.

"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!" She chanted as her silver armor materialized around her body, "Dance, my swords!"

The next instant, Erza's armor became plainly visible, along with dozens of levitating blades that revolved around her in multiple directions.

"Circle Sword!"

The swords around Erza quickly shot downward before slashing and spinning out in all directions.

"Nice!" Happy cheered to confirm her attack had forced the Enenrae back.

Seeing that he was running out of options, and also feeling that his connection to his master's powers was waning, Zancrow began shouting in desperate denial before finally doing something completely reckless.

"No, stop! You can't do this! NO! PLEASE, DON'T! ARRRR!"

Sting and Wendy both felt the sudden intense heat that began to come from Zancrow's body; and black flames forced both of them to leap away from him before the heroic stranger quickly noticed what was happening.

"Okay, everyone, it's time to go!" He announced quickly before opening a massive portal before himself, "Here, this will take you right back to Fairy Tail!"

Without needing another prompt from the stranger, Romeo quickly beckoned Wendy to him as he grabbed Carla and Pantherlily before leading the way out. Erza moved the second fastest, quickly grabbing Levy and Gajeel before leaping just behind Romeo; and Sting was next, who nimbly lifted Yukino into both his arms before hurtling through. Wendy moved next, grabbing Sawyer and Macbeth before tossing them through; and she made sure Happy flew after them before glancing back to the stranger and tossing him the invisible orb she never got to use.

"I'm guessing this is yours," She remarked before thanking him and jumping through; but the red-haired man's attention was more focused on Jellal than Wendy when he waved her by.

"Hey, Jellal," He called to the man, "It's time to go, now!"

"I can't!" Jellal explained quickly, "My guildmate Erik is still here somewhere!"

"Is he alive?" Iga questioned.

"That doesn't matter!" Jellal answered impatiently, "I'm not leaving him behind either way!"

"You're not leaving him behind, you're leaving him to me!" Iga quickly pointed out before turning to Lisanna.

"Get him outta here!" He ordered her before adding, "I'll catch up once I've got your friend back!"

Jellal was hesitant at first, but Lisanna hurried over to him and quickly changed his mind.

"Trust me, Jellal, Master Iga can find anything." She quietly told him while gently pulling on one of his arms; and she gestured to the center of the room where the wild flames of Zancrow's power was to show him how quickly the flames were growing.

Seeing no smarter option, Jellal gave in with a nod before leaping through the portal with Lisanna; and it closed behind them as Iga began to use his magic and ki senses as quickly as he could.

"Come on, come on, come on…" He chanted desperately just before the flames around a madly-screaming Zancrow suddenly withdrew, signaling only one of two things; and just as he sensed a very weak lifeform nearby, Iga also concluded neither causes for the flame's receding were good.

"Oh, crap!"

Anyone within miles of Akane Resort would have seen the explosion if it were not made of black fire and energy; as the entire complex was completely leveled by the blast, leaving nothing but a massive mile-wide crater behind as evidence of the resort's former existence.

 **Back at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…**

The only two people in the guild that was awake were Mirajane and Kinana, having just sent off the kitchen staff as they closed for the night; and they had stopped to chat with each other before leaving until they suddenly heard a commotion breaking out in the main hall. They both hurried back to the bar with Mira in the lead; and they bumped into each other in surprise as they opened the kitchen door to see all the members of Erza's team, along with a few members of Crime Sorciere and Sabertooth, emerging from a massive white portal in the center of the dining area.

Immediately noticing that every person that appeared was carrying at least one unconscious person, Mira quickly ordered Kinana to prepare the recovery room for whoever would need it before hurrying over to Erza, who was carrying a passed-out Levy and Gajeel; but the takeover mage, as she was beginning to address Erza, instantly stopped in her tracks when Jellal and Lisanna suddenly appeared behind the Knight.

"Erza? What ha- Lisanna?"

Ignoring most of the hectic scene around them, Lisanna quickly heard her big sister's voice; and she turned to see her before rushing to her.

"Mira!" She slightly cheered before nearly tackling her sister with a hug, "It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!"

"I did too," the elder takeover mage agreed as she returned the hug before slightly releasing her sister and adding, "But… what are you doing here? I thought you were on Earth."

"I was," Lisanna briefly explained, "But Master Iga told me everyone was in trouble, so I came back to help."

"She saved all of us." Erza added honestly before leading the conscious members of her team to the Recovery Room with the rest of their allies.

For the most part, the general mood was an atmosphere of nervous relief; but Lisanna watched all her injured and exhausted friends walk away from her with a plaintive expression, which was one her sister easily noticed even though she was stood behind her.

"You know, when I was out there earlier," The younger takeover mage informed her sister while staring at the now-closing door of the Recovery Room, "Wendy started asking me questions about Earth, and I just couldn't handle it… She doesn't deserve the way we've been treating her…

Before her sister could say any more, Mira gently placed a reassuring hand on Lisanna's shoulder to interrupt her.

"None of this is your fault, Lisanna; and you know that." She reminded her, "All this is because of Edo."

"And Iga's, too." Lisanna revealed to Mirajane's slight surprise, "I don't know the full story; but I think Iga blames mostly himself for everything that's happened, said something about how they 'created each other'."

"Huh." Mirajane remarked as she pondered what Iga would have meant by that, until Lisanna spoke again.

"But, forget that!" She surprised her sister with a sudden burst of happiness as she spun around and grabbed Mirajane's hands, "There's some really big news I gotta tell you! Although, you might wanna sit down first…"

Inside the Recovery Room, Wendy had waited until all the injured and unconscious were healed and resting on a bed of their own before she finally gave in to exhaustion herself, finally switching of her Dragon Force and collapsing by the side of Carla's bed; but Romeo, who had been standing next to her after leading her to Carla's bed, managed to catch the Sky Maiden before slipping one of her arms over his shoulders and lifting her up.

"Don't worry, I've got you." He reassured her as he stood back up with her; and he quickly glanced around to see all the beds in the room were occupied, "Come on, I'm sure we can find you a bed somewhere."

Wendy shook her head quickly even though she walked with him.

"I don't need to sleep yet," She explained as he opened the room's door for them, "I just need something to eat."

Though he was smirking slightly at her stubborn strength, Romeo could not help but question her judgement.

"Are you sure? I mean, you just went up against Zancrow; and I could feel how much magic you used up…"

"I'm fine, Romeo, I promise." She reassured him before smirking slightly when she noticed that he understood what she meant by getting 'something to eat', as Romeo turned to lead her outside instead of to the bar. The pair could hear Mirajane and Lisanna talking excitedly about something, but they were too busy talking with each other on their way out to hear the takeover mages' conversation.

"Well, to be fair, me carrying you out the guild kinda tells me otherwise." Romeo pointed out, and he could feel Wendy shrug in agreement before she responded to him.

"I know," She said as Romeo shoved one of the guild hall's doors open, "But I can't relax yet, not until I've talked with Lisanna; or Erik."

"Erik?" Romeo repeated curiously, "Didn't Zancrow say he killed him?"

"He didn't." Wendy revealed as they stopped a few feet away from the guild's entrance, "He might be near death right now, but I could faintly sense his ki back there."

"Really?" Romeo said in surprise, and Wendy nodded.

"I hoped Sting would have found him when we put on that little show for Zancrow; but I guess he ran into Happy instead."

Before Romeo could comment, Wendy began to inhale a large amount of air, taking the air away from Romeo for an instant before swallowing all of it.

"Sorry," She apologized for forgetting to warn him; and she quickly began to stand on her own after a second, "But thanks for carrying me out here. I feel much better now."

"No problem," Romeo replied naturally before grinning and adding, "But you know, you don't have to go wearing yourself out if you want me to hold you in my arms. You really could just ask."

Wendy giggled and blushed faintly at his joke; but she said nothing as they both looked at the night sky together, enjoying the quiet, peaceful sight before and above them until Wendy felt Romeo sidestep closer and grab her right hand with his left.

Glancing at Romeo's face, Wendy slyly smirked to see him faintly blushing, looking like he had something to say; but he never said anything as she looked at him. Instead, Wendy looked back to the horizon with him before gently squeezing his hand and apologizing to him.

"I'm sorry for scaring you earlier… I know how crazy I must have sounded, trying to fight Zancrow like that…"

"'Crazy' does sum up that whole scene pretty well," Romeo agreed humorously before glancing to her and adding, "But let's be honest, no one joins a guild like Fairy Tail without being a little crazy…"

"I guess that is true…" Wendy giggled; and Romeo grinned for a moment before slowly working up the courage to say what he really wanted to.

"Hey, um, Wendy?" He said tentatively, causing Wendy to turn and see him looking away bashfully again.

"What is it, Romeo?" She asked curiously, having quickly recognized his tone to be one he often used to start awkward or intimate conversations.

"I… uh… oh, never mind." He gave up on himself; but Wendy was already curious.

"What's up?" She questioned him, "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all." He assured her before trying to explain his internal struggle, "It's just that I don't..."

"Don't what?" Wendy said when his words began to trail off, and Romeo took another short moment to consider answering her before finally doing so.

"Well, I don't want you think less of me." He revealed, "That, and I know you haven't wanted to talk much about 'us', so…"

"Romeo," She looked at him seriously, "We're partners, silly. You can tell me anything, you know that."

Despite her attempt to convince him to speak, Romeo still hesitated; so Wendy gently pulled him against her side before trying again.

"Come on, Romeo; you know I'm not gonna let you walk away unless you tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me," He tried to explain, "I'm just… I'm afraid; that's all…"

"Afraid?" She repeated, "Of what?"

Romeo was nervously quiet at first, but after another second of squirming under Wendy's gaze; he finally gave in.

"I'm…" He stuttered once more before answering a little quicker and louder than he meant to, "I'm afraid to lose you!"

Wendy, who already had a good idea of how he felt about her, stayed silent in response as she waited for him to get to the actual point of what he was saying.

"And yeah, I was terrified when you went up against that lunatic; but that wasn't totally the problem. I mean, we make risky decisions almost every day that we're in this guild; but… when I thought about you dying back there at Akane… I was more afraid that you'd die before I got to tell you how I really felt…"

"Romeo…" Wendy said his name gently, and she wrapped her arm around his as she let him continue.

"And look, I know I'll never be as strong and brave as _he_ was but… I love you just like he did, Wendy; and I can't imagine spending a day on this planet without you around…"

Wendy was not sure how to respond to everything he was saying; and Romeo could tell instantly that he possibly dumped too much information on her at once, which prompted him to add one more statement to make responding a bit easier for her.

"I don't have to hear you say it back, okay? So please don't feel any kinda pressure to say it; I just… I want you to promise me something: the next time you come up with some kinda crazy plan or suicidal stunt like tonight's, just make sure I'm included, alright? Because, to me, the only thing worse than watching you die would be watching you die while doing absolutely nothing about it!"

Wendy was slightly surprised to see her partner's eyes were tearing up as he finished speaking; and she waited for him to dry his eyes with his free hand before she finally decided on how to respond.

"You big idiot…" She slightly teased him before unwrapping her arm from his to make him turn and face her, "Why would I ever come up with a plan that could get you killed?"

"Heh… living here, you never know…" Romeo chuckled weakly.

"No, I do." Wendy insisted with a hint of force in her tone, "When I saw that Zancrow had taken Carla, I kinda lost it; but I was also scared that he was going to take you, too. After I thought about that, I totally lost it.

"And if I'm being honest," She added a confession of her own, "I really didn't have a plan until Sting got involved; I just couldn't watch anymore of the people I love get hurt…"

Romeo was a bit too dense to understand the full meaning of her admission; but he slowly began to catch on as Wendy now took both of his hands into hers, looking into his eyes as she did.

"Wait…" He said while blinking a few times in disbelief as he slowly realized what she meant, "Did you just say-"

"That I love you?" She finished his question for him before gently squeezing his hands and adding with a smile, "I sure did."

"You…" Romeo sputtered in nervous excitement, "You… do?"

"Of course, I do." She confirmed again with a nod before adding with a smirk, "I mean, how could I not fall for a pretty face like this one?"

As she flirted with him, Wendy let go of his left hand to raise her right hand to the left side of his face; and she gently pinched it as she complimented it.

Romeo smiled bashfully as he tried to think of what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do, but he was also worried that being too forward would ruin the moment; and Wendy quickly noticed his hesitation.

"You know, if you're planning to ask permission; don't." She kept her hold on his face as she whispered her next words into his right ear, "You should just do it…"

Blinking a few times again at her words, Romeo stared with his mouth slightly agape as Wendy slowly pulled back, though only to keep her face barely inches from his as she spoke; and in the next second, she brought her lips to his.

 **Inside Iga's Sanctuary…**

Rogue Cheney had been wandering the overly-bright halls of his mysterious location aimlessly, squinting quite often as he did; and it had taken quite some time before his eyes properly adjusted. As soon as he could see where he was walking, Rogue continued his unguided tour through the place for a few more minutes until he entered a room, much larger than the others he had seen, that seemed to be three parts kitchen, living, and dining room.

Slightly disappointed that he could not smell any food, the shadow wizard sighed sadly as he realized how hungry and tired he was; and he slowly strode into the room before plopping onto the nearest couch, deciding that waiting here for his rescuers would be better than waiting in any other spot he saw.

Politely taking off his boots, Rogue then turned and laid back on the couch's arm before resting his feet and legs on the couch as well; and he briefly sighed comfortably before turning his head to the kitchen section curiously, as he realized some of the cooking appliances were things he had never seen before.

"Hm," He said to himself as he decided between staying comfy or sating his curiosity, the latter won out as he found himself getting back up to investigate. Striding around the couch and past the dining area, Rogue walked up to the main device that had gained his attention: a white, two-door, rectangular box that was slightly taller than himself. Guessing it was some sort of storage unit, he slowly opened the top and slightly smaller door to be surprised to feel a cold rush of air against his face; and he widened his eyes at the sight of all the frozen food inside it.

"What is this thing?" He wondered aloud; and he slowly closed the top door before opening the one below it, revealing even more food that appeared to be actually edible. The various scents of produce, deli meats, and leftovers barraged his senses instantly; and his stomach growled in anticipation as he began to debate taking something to eat, caught between wanting to be polite enough to ask for permission and while also wanting to give in to his slow-growing hunger.

Fortunately for him, however, his internal debate was interrupted as he heard a young woman's voice coming from the same doorway he had walked through.

"You know, whether you decide to take something or not…" He heard her say before turning his head to see a smirking redhaired woman leaning on the left side of the doorway as she spoke, "You shouldn't leave that door wide open; it wastes power and could spoil the food."

"Oh, sorry." He quickly apologized before closing the door and facing her, "I was just curious."

Quickly scanning her over, Rogue got the sense that the woman speaking to him was more powerful than her friendly demeanor suggested; and perhaps something sinister, but he wondered if that was only his cynical side giving him a bias.

Guessing the redhead was somewhere just above six feet, he noticed she was wearing a white martial artist's keikogi that was woven surprisingly thin for a gi, although her similarly-colored pants seemed to be made of a thicker material, along with black kung-fu shoes and a black tube top that was barely visible underneath her gi vest.

He could not help but find the look of her bright green eyes to be fascinating, as there was something about their warm shine that drew him in; and her bubbly charm was instantly infectious, so much so that Rogue was having difficulty with idle chatter as he tried to assess her. He could not sense any sort of magic power from her; but judging by the swagger she moved with, and by the strong confidence rooted deep in her voice, Rogue could not help but feel slightly concerned at the mystery before him.

"I've no doubt you were." The woman forgave him easily, "I mean, you don't see alien technology very often, do you?"

"Alien?" Rogue repeated the word curiously; and his mind suddenly pictured a stereotypical image of green-skinned UFO pilots before the woman chuckled at him.

"I meant that in a broad sense," She clarified with a smirk before standing upright, "The people that made it are humans too, just like us. The whole machine is called a refrigerator, but that top section is also a freezer, too. All the ones on Earth run on electricity; but this one is special. It's one of the first ever hybrids between Earth and Earthland's technologies."

Now Rogue was starting to feel guilty for thoughtlessly fiddling with it; but the woman only chuckled at his obvious regret.

"Oh, don't beat yourself, kid; it's just a fridge after all…" She reassured him coolly as she began to walk into the living area; and she stopped when she was near his boots.

"I guess you were getting comfy before I walked in," She remarked as she briefly examined them before continuing her walk towards the kitchen, "Would you like me to make you something?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no…" Rogue accepted her offer, and she waved him aside before moving to take his place by the fridge.

"It won't be anything fancy -probably leftovers, actually." She admitted with a smirk as she opened the lower door before her, "Igneel would probably notice if I took any of the fresh supplies… and to be honest, I'm kinda supposed to be somewhere else right now; but my husband doesn't know how good I actually am at multi-tasking. Think you could keep this whole little run-in between us?"

Although he nodded in agreement, Rogue was not completely sure he understood what all she was talking about; but he did recognize the name she dropped in the middle of her statement.

"'Igneel'…?" He wondered aloud, more to himself than to her, "Where have I heard that name before…?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." She realized aloud as she pulled some food out and closed the fridge, "I'm supposed to call him 'Iga' around Earthlanders to avoid confusing people… sorry about that."

"Igneel…" Rogue said the name slowly again before widening his eyes as he remembered the name, "Wait, that can't be right… how are you married to a dead dragon?"

"Wow," the woman remarked teasingly as she placed a sandwich in another, much smaller, device that stood on the counter near the stove, "You Dragon Slayers really are a dense bunch of individuals."

"How do you know that I'm a dragon slayer?" Rogue questioned as he shrugged off her joke.

"The real question is, how could I not?" She remarked humorously over a faint humming noise the machine behind her created, "I'm pretty sure everyone in Fiore knows who the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth are; but there are a few other dead giveaways. Like that ridiculously loud growling coming from your stomach -I heard that from halfway down the hall."

Rogue could not help but smile bashfully at her joke; and the woman's grin widened at the sight as the machine behind her ceased its humming and beeped twice.

"Alright," she said with vague enthusiasm as she spun around to retrieve the food, "This one's yours, since no one's bitten into yet."

"Thanks…" He replied with hint of uncertainty as she set the large deli sandwich on a plate and handed it to him.

"I know it's not much to eat for a dragon slayer," she added apologetically as she turned around to retrieve her own food, "But it should hold you over 'till we get Iga's permission to actually dig into the fridge."

"It's more than enough," He told her gratefully as he moved to take a seat by the dining table, and he slowly looked to her after picking a seat, "I just realized, miss, I never got your name."

"Oh, duh!" the woman scolded herself before apologizing, "I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot my manners like that! The name's Vesta; or Ves, if two syllables is too much for you.

"And you're Rogue Cheney." She pointed out the obvious before he could; but the Sabertooth wizard was too distracted by what Vesta was doing to be put-off by her lack of formality, seeing her simply holding some of her food in her hand for a few seconds before chowing down.

"Aren't you going to heat that up?" He asked her curiously while guessing that was the function of the strange appliance she had used for his meal.

"Huh?" With her mouthful of food, she replied with some confusion until she recalled the fact that he knew practically nothing about her, "Oh, yeah; I just did."

"With your magic?" He concluded; and she nodded briefly before he had another question, "Then, why didn't you do that for me, too?"

"Because I wanted to show off Iga's tech." She explained easily, "We don't get many visitors here, you know."

"I guess." Rogue agreed uncertainly after swallowing a bite of food, though he was satisfied with her answer, "But by the way, where is 'here'?"

"Well, we call this place The Sanctuary; but 'where' is kind of a vague concept in this place…" She tried her best to explain, "You see, this place exists separately from our world; but it's still sorta connected to it as well. It's kinda like an alternate dimension where almost everything that's solid is made out of light. The walls, the furniture… heck, even some parts of these kitchen appliances are made out of solid light."

"That would explain the brightness." Rogue commented on the obvious, about to ask her another question about the place when they both heard someone else announcing their arrival.

"I knew it!" Rogue heard a man's voice coming from behind him, and he turned in his seat to see a shirtless man with extremely long and unkempt red hair walking through one of the walls as he pointed accusingly at Vesta, "I knew I'd catch you raiding the fridge!"

"Busted…" Vesta remarked amusingly.

"I mean, Suno and Eighter are so politely waiting for us, with a whole lot of food…" The man reminded her; but Vesta only shrugged off his remark.

"Eh, I couldn't wait." She replied honestly before gesturing to the fridge, "You want something, too?"

Shaking his head in amusement, the man ignored her question before turning to their guest.

"Well, at least Ves was polite enough to feed you too." He remarked optimistically before walking closer to the Sabertooth wizard and extending him a hand, which Rogue politely shook before the man introduced himself as he sat across from the dragon slayer.

"If Ves hasn't told you yet, my name's Iga; and this is my Sanctuary, the one place in existence that Edo's powers can't reach."

"And that's why you had Lisanna Strauss send me here?" Rogue concluded.

"Well, yes and no." Iga began to explain, "Your safety came first of course, but I was also hoping you'd be able to help me with a little project of mine."

"Oh?" Rogue said curiously, "And what project would that be?"

"It's nothing too crazy, I assure you," Iga replied cryptically, "But I'm afraid we'll have to shelve this topic for a later conversation. Right now, I'm more worried about the status of our other guest at the moment."

"Other guest?" Rogue repeated the words, "Who else did you bring here?"

"Take a look for yourself." Iga said while gesturing to the closest wall; and Rogue looked at it to see the center of the wall opening into a small round window, which revealed an unconscious and bloody-bandaged Poison Dragon Slayer.

"I used my energy to keep him alive," Iga explained as Rogue stared at the sight with a mix of relief and concern, "He's not on borrowed time anymore, but he is going to need actual medical treatment before he can recover from that wound."

"And everyone else? Sting? Yukino?" Rogue asked as the image of Erik faded from view, "Where are they now?"

"At Fairy Tail, safe and sound." Vesta chimed in from her spot by the fridge, which she was still not-so-stealthily raiding as she listened to the two.

"Ves," Iga whined slightly as he noticed she was still snacking, "You know I can see you, right?"

The next instant, Vesta quickly became invisible to both men before she chuckled with a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, that wasn't the point…" Iga sighed as he gave up on trying to protect his food reserves from her.

"Oh, whatever." He added dismissively as Rogue finished eating, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now, anyway."

Standing up and gesturing for Rogue to follow him, Iga began to create another rift where the image of Erik used to be; and he asked the dragon slayer a question before setting the rift's destination.

"So, Rogue, the choice is yours: would you first like to know more about this place, and my little project? Or, would you rather head straight back to your friends at Fairy Tail?"

 **On Earthland…**

Gajeel Redfox woke with a pained groan as he rubbed his head.

"Ergh, that damn Cobra…" He whined to himself as he sat up, "Bastard didn't need to hit me that hard…"

Finally taking in his surroundings, the dragon slayer soon realized he had been sleeping in Fairy Tail's Recovery Room, which he could see was currently full-up on patients; and he sighed with some relief at the sight of everyone resting safely.

"Wendy, look." He heard Romeo's voice from the other side of the room, "Gajeel's getting up!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm down." The Iron Dragon Slayer commented irritably before questioning the young couple that was now slowly walking towards him.

"How long have I been out?"

"About half an hour," Wendy answered first before asking, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit in the head." He said flatly, which made the pair smirk before he asked them his next question, "Tell me, how the hell did you all manage to beat Zancrow? 'Cause I see Jellal's chumps here, too; but I know that Zancrow was hell-bent on keeping us, I could feel it…"

"Well, it was more of a tie." Romeo began to answer as he and Wendy finally reached the foot of Gajeel's bed, "To be honest, I'm still not sure that I totally understand everything that happened…"

"Okay, then, tell me what you do know."

"We will in a minute." Wendy slightly surprised Gajeel as she temporarily denied his request to discuss her more pressing concerns; and she strode to the right side of his bed as she continued to speak, "Right now, I need to make sure your head's healed up; and I should probably check for any traces of Edo's magic while I'm at it. I had to undo some sort of sleep enchantment Zancrow put on his hostages, but whatever he was trying to do to you and Jellal's friends was something completely different; and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Do you mind?"

Gajeel shook his head even though he seemed slightly annoyed; and she gently placed her right hand on his right forearm before slowly placing her other hand on the side of his head.

"There, that should take care of your headache," She said amiably, "Feel better?"

"Yeah…" Gajeel confirmed with excellently-hidden bashfulness, though Wendy noticed it after he slightly shifted his gaze from her and finished answering, "Thanks."

"No; thank you," She replied politely, though her smile was more of an amused smirk than anything; she always did admire his tough-guy attitude, since it was always a rather difficult façade for her to maintain, "Not many people are able to swallow their pride and take one for the team like you did."

"Seriously; it was kinda bad-ass, in weird way." Romeo chipped in before awkwardly asking, "Unless Erik was lying about why he hit you… He wasn't, was he?"

Gajeel grinned faintly at the fire mage's awkward compliment before shaking his head and answering.

"Nah. For once, I'm glad that annoying ass was able to hear my thoughts."

"Well, it does seem like he kept Zancrow out." Wendy concluded reassuringly before releasing him, and she slightly backed away as she added, "I can't find any signs of corruption, either, though. If Zancrow wasn't lying about anything like that, it's not something I can detect."

"Hmph." Gajeel grunted in acknowledgment before deciding to actually speculate on the subject.

"Yeah, I wouldn't imagine you could." He said with a hint of resentment that was clearly directed at himself, "I don't want to admit it; but I think Zancrow might've been right about us."

Before Wendy or Romeo could make an attempt at making Gajeel feel better, the three heard a small commotion coming through the door before Erza suddenly swung it open and hurried through, with Jellal just behind her; but it was who Jellal was carrying into the room that made Wendy and Romeo both gasp in surprised relief.

"It's Erik!" Romeo observed aloud, but Erza ignored him as she instantly made a beeline for Gajeel.

"Ah, good, you're awake." She said as she moved quickly; and Gajeel was about to question her apparent concern for him when she suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

"Heh, I didn't think you were the worrying ki- What are you-?!"

Before he could finish speaking, Erza gracelessly lifted him and tossed him behind her, forcing Wendy to duck and Romeo to quickly sidestep him as he landed face-first on the floor near the corner of his bed.

"Put him here." Erza quickly instructed Jellal, who just as quickly complied after giving Gajeel an apologetic glance.

"How is he?" Wendy immediately questioned as she stood back up to examine the new patient on the bed before her.

"Not good." A third voice said from the door, and Romeo looked to see the same red-haired stranger from earlier was now leaning on the open door's frame as he spoke.

"Whatever Zancrow stabbed him with, he stabbed him deep. And there's also all the busted bones and bruises…"

"No kidding," Wendy agreed without bothering to look up as she kept her hands over Erik, until she noticed something bizarre thanks to her magic, "Wait… how is this possible? He's got tons of open wounds; but he isn't bleeding!"

"That's because my ki is keeping the leaks patched at the moment," the man explained casually; and now Wendy was intrigued enough to look away from the poison mage.

"You can use ki?" She asked curiously before beginning to question him, "Really? Because I can't sense it..."

Wendy suddenly went quiet as she remembered a small detail about the sorts of ki users that existed, one that instantly revealed to her the true nature of the strange, shirtless man standing in the doorway.

"Well, that explains a few things." She remarked in realization before returning most of her attention to Erik, "Now, can you get your ki out the way, please?"

"Whatever you say, boss." The man obeyed in amusement; but Romeo was only confused by the two's conversation.

"Wait, what explains a few things?" Romeo asked Wendy, "Do you know who this guy is or something?"

"I don't know who he is." She explained as she began to heal Erik, "But I know what he is, at least. He's a god."

"A god?!" The fire mage exclaimed; and even Jellal and Erza were silently admitting to themselves they were surprised as Romeo turned to the stranger and questioned him next, "How is that possible? I thought gods died out before the dragons did!"

"Heh…" The stranger chuckled, "It's funny, you mention dragons too…"

Wendy glanced back at the stranger again; and she soon noticed another detail about him when she looked into his eyes: not only were they a bizarre shade of yellow, they were just as reptilian as her late adoptive mother's.

"A dragon… god…?" She deduced in surprise; and Erik unconsciously winced once in pain as she briefly lost focus.

"That's right," The man at the door informed the room, "But the real surprise is that I'm a combination of all three eras. Long story short: many years ago, Edo and I were originally nothing but a couple of semi-pro fire wizards looking for fame and fortune."

"A dragon god, huh?" Gajeel remarked with a hint of skepticism, "If you've been around just as long as Edo has, why are we only just seeing your ugly mug?"

"That's an awful kind way to talk to your savior," the ever-grinning man quipped dismissively before looking to the Sky Maiden, who was still healing Erik as she listened, "Anyway… Wendy, when you're done here, there's a few things we should probably discuss in private."

"Okay…" She replied slowly as she tried to think of what business he could have with her; but she then put her curiosity aside once again to remained focused on the task at hand, "I'll be done with this in a couple of minutes."

The stranger nodded before addressing the rest of the room while beginning to walk back towards the bar.

"If anyone else has questions, and I'm sure you do… My name's Iga; and I'll be by the bar if you need me."

Letting the door close behind him, Iga had only managed to walk down the small set of stairs leading into the main dining floor when Sting got his attention by calling his name and hurrying to stand before him with Rogue in tow.

"What's up?" Iga casually asked the Twin Dragon Slayers as they stopped before him; but Sting had no intention of being as informal, causing Iga and Rogue to be slightly surprised when he bowed in extreme humility to the redhead immortal before saying anything.

"You probably know this, but… the most important part of being a guild master is being able to protect the people that follow you. And tonight, I failed at doing more than just that… Honestly, I don't want to even begin to imagine what would have happened without the help that you and Lisanna gave us."

"Sting…" Rogue said his best friend's name with a bizarre and confused medley of emotions in his voice; but the White Dragon Slayer was not finished speaking yet.

"Just saying that we're grateful would come nowhere close to repaying the debt that my guild owes you, what I owe you. Master Iga, the doors of the Sabertooth guild hall will forever be open to you; and if you ever need something from me or my guild, you need only ask for it."

Iga scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he graciously listened to what Sting had to say; and he responded the only way he knew how.

"Well jeez, Master Sting" He jokingly remarked with a flattered tone, "Not even my wife talks that sweetly to me…"

Rogue smirked at the redhead's remark before watching Iga step close to Sting as the white mage finally stood tall once again; and Iga patted Sting on both of his shoulders as soon as they were standing eye-to-eye.

"And don't be so quick to beat yourself up, kid." He told the young master honestly, "The only people that can properly fend off people like Edo are gods, and gods alone. Just buy me some food some time, and I'll call us even."

Stepping past the Twin Dragons, Iga continued his walk towards the bar, where Lisanna was sitting by herself with a mug in her hands.

"Hey," Iga asked as he approached her, "Where'd Mira go? I was looking forward to seeing her."

"She's still here," she answered before glancing towards the kitchen's door and adding, "She's back there, trying to reopen the kitchen with Kinana."

"Really?" Iga replied with poorly masked excitement before adding, "I guess that's not a bad idea… who knows when all the folks in that room are gonna be up."

"Speaking of," He added as he took the seat to Lisanna's right, "Gajeel just came to."

"That's good." She said with some relief before adding hopefully, "Maybe that means more of them will be up before I have to go."

"Back to Earth?" He guessed easily, and he saw her nod before he added, "Well, you don't have to because of me. I've got a new plan for Fairy Tail and the rest of the 'light' guilds, and it's gonna need some good leaders…"

"Sounds tempting…" Lisanna almost seemed to consider his implied offer for a few seconds before finally adding, "But I can't. I need to be back on Earth; and I really need to talk to Trunks, about a lot of things…"

"Uh oh…" Iga remarked with a mix of amused intrigue and concern, "Trouble in paradise?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Lisanna assured him, and she then stared at the drink in her hands before adding, "There's just some stuff we've got to figure out."

"I get it," Iga empathized with her, although he was secretly fixated on the contents of her mug for some reason as her spoke, "Being from separate universes kinda complicates things, doesn't it?"

"It does," She agreed before quickly attempting to be positive, "But at least we've got a god or two on our side -that kinda helps."

"Only 'kinda'?" Iga met her gaze and grinned goofily as he replied; and Lisanna gave him an amused smile before he gestured to her drink, "So uh, why's that just water? After saving all my friends and nearly getting blasted by Zancrow, I'd be hitting the sake right about now."

As soon as Lisanna twitched nervously upon hearing his question, Iga was suspicious; and when he used his ki sense, his eyes widened in surprise. Nearly sliding out of his seat, Iga quickly recovered as he saw Lisanna desperately signaling him to stay quiet; but this revelation was something he simply could not ignore.

"Lisanna, you really should have told me… I would never have put you in Zancrow's line of fire like that if I had known about this!"

"That's one of the reasons why I didn't tell you!" She whispered back pointedly, "You needed me to distract Zancrow, 'cause it was either me or your trump card; and I'm pretty sure you still don't want Edo to know about her!"

Iga went quiet for once, knowing that she was right. Eighter, as kind and polite as he was, was not clever enough to con someone like Zancrow or Edo; and Vesta was indeed a secret weapon, which was a rare advantage to have against Edo.

"For the record, that was her plan; and not mine." Iga matched her volume as he tried to calm her, "But okay, I promise I won't tell a soul."

"Good." Lisanna replied with some satisfaction.

"But uh," Iga suddenly added as his curiosity overcame him, "Can we talk about it?"

"I guess." She conceded, and Iga sighed in relief before speaking.

"So, I'm guessing Trunks doesn't know?"

"Of course not." She told him flatly, "He wouldn't have left me alone at home if he knew.

"And speaking of 'home'…" She added ponderously, "That's another issue…"

"Yeah," Iga agreed in realization, "I guess you guys are gonna have to pick one place to live at, eventually; and if you aren't staying with me, there's a chance you won't hear about something happening until it's too late."

"Buuut… it's not so bad," He added reassuringly upon seeing that the conversation was starting to bother her, "You've got me on your side, after all; a trip across universes is nothing but a walk through a door for me."

"I know that," She informed him with a grateful smile before clarifying, "But that isn't the whole problem. Calling some place 'home' has meaning to it, doesn't it?"

"Hm… I guess." The immortal said slowly in his own thoughtful tone, "But 'home' has a lot of meanings, don't it? One of my homes is Edolas, and another on is the Sanctuary. I could also think a lot bigger and call all the universes my home, since I can go anywhere I want.

"But don't get too hung up on all the minutiae of life just yet, okay?" He concluded with a bit of advice, "You'll live where you live; and no one's gonna judge you for it. Except maybe Vegeta…"

Lisanna was going to humorously thank him for his half-way comforting advice when they both heard the kitchen door opening.

"And then there's the sister," Iga announced eagerly as Mirajane emerged, "The Demon herself…"

"And you must be the Igneel from Edolas," the elder takeover mage observed as she stood across the bar from them; and Iga quickly realized by her matter-of-factly tone that he was in trouble, "It's good to officially meet you, too; but, um… I have a lot of questions for you,"

Lisanna gasped in slight surprise as her sister grabbed Iga by an ear and pulled his face within inches of hers before doing her best to not shout at -or attack- him.

"Like what the hell do you think you were doing, sending Lisanna after Zancrow like that!"

Iga had seen some terrifying glares in his life; but the menacing expression on her face was one for the record book, as far as he was concerned.

"Mira!" Lisanna finally attempted to intervene, "He didn't know!"

"That doesn't matter to me," Her sister said with a calmer tone that still had force behind it, "I'm supposed to trust him with your life; but he's a god that doesn't even know what's going on with his followers, let alone his enemies."

"Yeah, you're right…" Iga winced in pain before he tentatively replied, "But I'm not a 'capital g' god, I'm a 'little g' god…"

"I don't care what kind of god you are," Mira told him pointedly, "All I care about is my little sister, and my little brother; and if you get either of them hurt, I also don't care that you're immortal. I'll find a way to kill you."

"You know…" Iga remarked with nervous humor, "You really do live up to your reputation…"

"Give her what she wants, Iga." Lisanna advised him nervously, "She seems more serious than usual…"

"Okay…" Iga soon gave in, raising his right hand solemnly as he spoke, "Fine… I promise: I'll keep a better eye on her; and from now on, any crazy plans that I make… I'll be sure to give Lisanna the safer parts."

Mirajane said nothing while she held him in place for a few more seconds, debating whether or not his oath was satisfying enough; but Iga was also having an internal debate of own, wondering if he should be speaking realistically rather than hopefully -and there was the issue of his pride, which was slightly hurt from this whole interaction already. Thinking he could possibly save face by acting brave under her threats, the immortal finally decided to add a more honest remark.

"Come on, Mirajane, you know that I can never totally guarantee her safety; especially when she wants to fight dark wizards like I do. All I can do is keep my promise, and that's it."

"Alright," The elder Strauss finally spoke, and her tone quickly returned to her signature friendliness as she released him and backed away slightly, "That's a bit better."

Lisanna sighed in relief as Iga flopped back onto his seat; and the two exchanged nervous smirks before Mirajane spoke again.

"I guess I should thank you for saving my friends…"

"You really don't have to." Iga told her honestly, but Mirajane was unconvinced.

"Please, I insist." The bartender replied with stubborn kindness, "There must be something I could do to repay you."

"Mira, just give him something to eat," Lisanna chimed in humorously, "That's the only thing this guy ever wants."

Iga nodded eagerly a few times before Mirajane could respond to them. He had already been thinking about the dinner on Earth that Vesta was more than likely eating without him.

"If that's the case," She said after she giggled at the goofy expression on the immortal's face, "I have few good ideas I'm sure you'll love. The Fairy Tail Guild Hall has a very diverse menu, with a few exotic dishes and plenty of magically enhanced foods and beverages. I even have a liquor that Gohan drunk."

"Well, with a sales pitch like that…" Iga was impressed with her boasting, "I really can't refuse now, can I?"

Mirajane smiled proudly before Iga asked her curiously.

"But seriously, you have a drink that could get a Saiyan drunk? Sounds like it must be something strong…"

"It sure is," Lisanna confirmed, "Apparently, it's so strong that only guild wizards, the kingdom's soldiers, and council officials are allowed to drink it; and there's a huge fine for whoever serves some to a normal human."

"There's a magical enhancement in it, you see." Mirajane continued the explanation for her sister, "It's effect lets the drinker stay however inebriated as they want to be until they fall asleep; it's something that's meant to be taken slowly and enjoyed."

"And Gohan downed an entire mug of it," Lisanna recalled with a nostalgic smile.

"Here… this is our menu," Mirajane offered as she reached under the bar to brandish a laminated sheet, "You can look it over while I go check on the others."

Iga thanked her before she walked away; and he began to browse the menu with Lisanna advising him until they briefly looked towards Mirajane, who had spoken to someone that was exiting the resting room.

"The kitchen's started up, Jellal," She said as she slowed her pace walking past him, "If you want anything, I'll be back in a second to ask about it."

"Thank you, Mirajane." The bluenette replied gratefully before resuming his walk towards the bar; and he soon began to address Iga as he approached.

"So, Iga…" He said with forceful curiosity, "You said you'd answer my questions, correct?"

"I sure did." Iga affirmed casually as he continued to look at the menu, "What do you wanna know?"

"I want to know how Gohan is, or his brother, wife and daughter. Last we met, you and Trunks said they were alive and well; but you were rather sparing on details. And I want to know how a 'god' like you could allow his friends to be attacked like we were tonight!"

"Little 'g'…" Iga interjected with an impatient sigh, but Jellal ignored him and continued.

"The only tactics you seem capable of acting on are deceptions and ambushes; if you were a god, wouldn't you have done something much sooner to stop Edo? Because while you've waited for us to do your dirty work for you, you've only allowed Edo to get stronger by using us as lab rats and punching bags!"

"Jellal! That's not-" Lisanna began to instantly defend Iga until the redhead held a hand up to signal her to stay quiet.

"He's not entirely wrong, Lisanna." He said honestly before finally putting the menu down and looking to Jellal, "As much as I don't want to admit it, he's got a point."

"Then why have you done nothing about Edo after all this time spent watching us?" Jellal demanded with a hint of anger.

"I understand you're upset right now, Jellal," Iga tried to calm the man down, "But I haven't been doing 'nothing' this whole time. Edo isn't someone you beat with one simple move, understand? This struggle between myself and Edo is more like an overly-complicated chess match, with a lot of moving parts and variables. The last time I made a direct move against Edo, I lost the person that mattered the most to me; so, we are _lucky_ that tonight has turned out as well as it did."

"You know what?" Iga remarked with sad humor as he turned back to Lisanna, "I think I'm gonna have to take a whole bottle of that stuff your sister was talking about, if this is how all of these conversations are gonna go…"

"I'd be more afraid of Wendy, if I were you." Jellal warned the man with a menacing glare, "I'm satisfied with your reasons for making us lie to our friends the way we have, but her…

"Well, I actually don't know what will happen, considering everything I saw her do tonight." He added before turning back around to return to the resting room and concluding, "And no offense, but… I'm kind of hoping she makes you hurt for it."

 **At the ruins of Akane Resort…**

Zancrow was still fumingly enraged as he paced back and forth in the very center of the massive crater that once used to be the hotel and amusement park, with only his angry thoughts and six shadowy yes-men to keep him company; and he eventually sent the Enenrae away before he started killing them to blow off steam.

"Dammit, why…" He swore miserably as he once again tried, and failed, to use his master's powers to reach the Shadow, "Why is this not working?!"

Wondering exactly how long he had been standing out in the open like an idiot, and wondering why he had heard nothing from either of his current allies, the Fire God Slayer continued to pace as he began to converse with himself on what could have happened to everyone.

"That damn Igneel, he's the one that did this… the rat bastard! Why couldn't he have done all that rescuing crap on one of Cel's jobs?!

"At least he made all of us look foolish," He added to console himself before guessing how Iga did so, "He had to have done something to Master Edo, otherwise he wouldn't have got out with his little puppets…

"Damn, damn, damn!" He said next before stomping his right foot a few times as he swore, "That still doesn't explain how some of my powers are gone… what the hell did Igneel do?!"

The dark mage was so preoccupied with his anger that he never once bothered to actively mind his surroundings; and it was only when he saw people surrounding the entire rim of the crater did Zancrow realize he had spent too much time doing nothing, which was a fact that soon angered him further.

"Oh, good, the neighbors are here…" He joked sourly before scanning the circle of faces; and though he easily recognized the men and women as Magic Council soldiers, the only person he actually recognized among them was Mest Gryder.

"And here I thought the council was all about rules and etiquette; but there you are, rudely staring at me like a bunch of asses!" He called out to the teleport mage with clear annoyance before giving him a suggestion, "Why don't you come down here and have a chat? I have been getting rather lonely."

Zancrow grinned knowingly when he saw a few of the soldiers near Mest nervously conversing with their leader, and the dark mage decided to call out to them again as he grew more impatient

"Ignoring someone isn't good manners, either, you know?!"

Finally listening to the dark mage, Mest hesitated another second before warping to join Zancrow in the bottom of the crater.

"Like what I've done with the place?" Zancrow asked sarcastically, and he grinned amusingly just as Mest grimaced in annoyance.

"Not particularly." The council agent answered flatly before cutting to the chase, "You did this? Why? All our information suggested that you wanted the place for yourself."

"Why don't you ask your guild buddies about it?" Zancrow wondered dismissively, "I'm sure they'd love to brag about their great escape…"

Looking quickly at the surprised look on Mest's face, Zancrow quickly realized he had given the man too much information.

"Not that it really matters," He added to save face and to change the subject, "When my Master finally makes his move, none of them will survive it."

"Empty threats again, Zancrow?" The Fairy Tail spy remarked dismissively, "Do you honestly think I'm going to believe them? I mean, you did just tell me about how you failed to get my friends…"

"Don't get cocky, errand boy," Zancrow warned him, "The only reason you're still standing is because you could be of use to me."

"I really doubt that." Mest chuckled skeptically, but Zancrow insisted.

"Oh, you 'good guys' and your modesty… I don't think you realize just how useful someone in your position could be. After all, not many people have the ear of both the Magic Council and the kingdom's number one guild; but its really rare to find someone that can make them listen."

"I'm not joining you." Mest made his stance clear, "Not for anything."

"Anything?" the dark mage repeated curiously, and he chuckled when Mest nodded in response, "Heh… Now it's my turn to doubt you.

"I wonder," He added as he attempted to get in the council agent's head, "Would you be interested in knowing that the iron will of the Fairy Tail guild can be bent? Or about how I even began to convince Jellal Fernandes to surrender to me?"

"Began to…" Mest interjected dismissively, "But didn't."

"Because a god interrupted me!" Zancrow explained angrily, but Mest only scoffed at him.

"A god? Please…" the teleport mage said with a roll of his eyes before questioning Zancrow again.

"Even if that were true, aren't you a god slayer? I thought killing gods was supposed to be your specialty."

"And your dragon slayers?" Zancrow quipped, "Care to tell me how many dragons they've killed? Oh, wait…

"There's a reason the gods and dragons of this world went extinct, you know." He added to drive his point home, "Each race's predecessor was too powerful to be ignored. Don't get me wrong, power can get you respect; but the mistake they both made is that they constantly reminded the lesser races about how powerful they were. Great and successful leaders are respected, but never feared; because fear… no matter how you try to use it, it will always create resentment; and once that seed is sown…"

"Funny," Mest interjected amusedly, "I almost forgot I was speaking with a dark wizard…"

"We're not all brutes and savages, mister clean-conscience," Zancrow informed him with a hint of annoyance, "Sometimes, people like me have no choice but to be brutal."

"Like what you did here?" Mest questioned him, "Aside from whatever happened with my friends, I heard about what you did to the civilians here. There is no justifying that!"

"Yeah, like you've never been ordered to kill someone that hasn't earned it!" the fire wizard said sarcastically,

"The only difference between you and me is that the person giving me orders is literally connected to my soul. And if the man that saved my life and gave me purpose tells me to kill some people, who am I to say no?"

"That's easy. You're Zancrow, the coward." Mest answered the rhetorical question, which made the yellow-haired mage clench his fists in anger as he listened, "Even if it costed hundreds of other lives, you would gladly do anything to stay alive."

"And once again, you've proven your ignorance…" the dark mage remarked with a sad sigh as he finally unclenched his fists, "You might be surprised by this, but I didn't find death to be as terrible as you think it would be. The good people actually do get rewarded when they die, and the bad do get punished; but the consequences didn't matter to me. Once I knew death wasn't the end, I couldn't care less about what happened to anyone, myself included."

"What are you rambling on about?" Mest asked in confused curiosity, "Even if there's an afterlife, it doesn't mean it's okay to send people there early! Or to cause pain, fear, and suffering!"

"Again, you council chumps have no room to talk! You might not use fear as directly as I do; but the Magic Council has certainly caused their own amounts of 'pain and suffering'. My first master taught me everything on that subject…"

"And your second master has taught you so much more." A third voice suddenly chimed in, and the two heard nervous chatter coming from the ring of soldiers in the distance as Edo himself appeared from a jet-black portal beside Zancrow's feet.

"Master!" Zancrow said in surprise, immediately humbly bowing on one knee to the man before saying anything else, "It is good to see you, master. When I could not reach your Shadow, I-"

"There is no need to be concerned, my friend, I assure you." Edo assured his pupil, "Igneel might have surprised me with some half-baked stunt, but his mistake was that he did not try to kill me while my guard was down. He could have saved his whole world by doing so; but instead, he chose to save his puppets over saving his planet…"

"Igneel?" Mest interrupted them curiously, "Wasn't that Natsu's dragon friend?"

"Of course not, you moron," Zancrow said harshly as he finally stood tall again, "You think one dragon would give us trouble? Hah! No dragon would stand a chance against us!"

"And no army will either," Edo added pointedly before gesturing to some of the soldiers, "These people out here, they're cannon fodder. At least, normally, they would be…"

Zancrow smirked devilishly as he suddenly realized his master's current strategy; and Mest began to feel increasingly nervous as he watched the two exchange evil grins.

"What…" He said slowly as he tried to figure out their endgame, "What are you two scheming? And why aren't you trying to kill us?"

"Because that would be a waste of resources, and a waste of my power." Edo explained with a total lack of emotion, "Unless you think I should step on every insect I come across?"

"I didn't think so." Edo added pointedly after Mest only stayed silent in response, and he smirked faintly before turning to his student and speaking again.

"Now Zancrow, you may go home and rest. You've earned it."

"But Master-"

"I'm sure you have plenty questions of your own," Edo interrupted his underling, "And I will return home to answer them as soon as I've finished cleaning up this mess."

Finally giving up, Zancrow went quiet as he slowly refocused his powers; and he soon realized a few of his questions could now be answered, simply by using his senses.

"Oh, yes… Now, I se-" He began to think aloud before quickly catching himself, and he quickly bowed to Edo as he did so, "I apologize for questioning your judgement."

Without another word, Zancrow created a rift on the ground ahead of his feet before slowly stepping down into it; and he soon vanished from view entirely before Edo returned to his conversation with Mest.

"Now, where were we?" He wondered aloud as he turned to face the council agent, "Oh yes, we were just about to discuss the terms of your surrender."

"Were we?" Mest asked with clear doubt, but Edo only grinned at the man's resistance.

"Play tough all you want, Mr. Gryder, but I know the score. No one here is equipped to do battle with a god, much less with one as powerful as I am.

"No," He concluded while grinning widely and taking a casual stance, "Right now, I imagine the only thing you've been wondering is how you'll worm you way out of this; but you won't."

"Then either get to your point, or just kill us and be done with it." Mest replied impatiently.

"Hmph," Edo chuckled before deciding he had bought enough time, "Well, if you insist…"

The dark god next raised his right hand lazily before snapping his fingers once, which was soon followed by a panicked commotion coming from the soldiers on the crater's edge. Looking immediately over to his company, Mest saw that every single on of them were sinking into the ground as if they were trapped in quicksand; and he immediately turned back to Edo with a shout.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded immediately, though he did not wait for an answer. Warping closer to Edo while throwing a punch, but the dark mage easily blocked his fist with one finger.

"Now, now," Edo tutted in sad amusement, "Let's not do anything you'd regret…"

Slowly prodding Mest's fist away from himself, Edo let his would-be attacker take in the horrifying sight around them before taunting him.

"I'd hurry up and say goodbye if I were you," He suggested grimly, "Odds are, you'll never see any of them again."

Not listening to the dark wizard, Mest quickly warped to where some of his fellow officers were located; but try as he might, he was unable to halt -or even slow- any of their descents into the earth. And as he tried, a young woman's voice began to laugh at him, with the sound of it rumbling from the very ground beneath him.

"Sorry, mister council crony! These guys belong to us now; but you're welcome to join them, if you'd like…"

He quickly recognized the voice and magic as Cel Rhea's while he began to look around for her.

"Come out here and face me, coward!" Mest tried to order her, but she only laughed at him again in response.

"I am out here, fool." She pointed out honestly, "Or have you forgotten about my power already?"

Mest quickly jumped as high as possible when a hand suddenly morphed out of the ground and attempted to grab his ankle, but Edo had predicted his movement; and the dark mage leapt up as well, appearing just above his target before he slapped the council wizard back into the crater's center with the back of his right hand.

"Now look at what you made me do," Edo complained to his girlfriend humorously as he slowly descended towards the dazed and slow-recovering teleport mage, "I wasn't planning on getting rough with him yet, you know."

"Meh." Cel said dismissively, making Edo shake his head dejectedly before he addressed their captive once more.

"I'm sorry about my partner's lack of professionalism… I did ask her not to mock you over this defeat; but you know how people like us are. If we see an open wound, we can't help but pour salt in it."

The only response Mest gave him was a grunt of pained effort as he slowly stood back up.

"So you're giving me the silent treatment, are you?" Edo remarked in amusement as Mest stared angrily at him, "That's fair, considering everything… But, I'd like you to try considering my side of this as well. You see, your friends just destroyed almost all of my wonderful little science experiments; I've gotta do something to replenish their ranks, now, don't I?"

"No…" Mest broke his silence as he understood Edo's statement, "You can't…"

"I do what I desire, and nothing else." The dark mage replied curtly, "Your people got in the way of what I wanted, and now they're going to make it up to me. If you truly cared for the safety of these people, then you would never have brought them here."

"Stop this!" Mest tried again, "These people are…"

"If you say the word 'innocent', I'll kill you." Edo interrupted him irritably.

Thinking of no better solution, Mest desperately tried once more to attack the man before him; but he was instantly halted by the feeling of two stone hands wrapping tightly around his ankles, making him wince in pain as all his momentum suddenly vanished.

"Thank you, my dear." Edo chuckled to his partner gratefully before stepping within Mest's striking range and adding, "As needless as it was, I appreciate your desire to protect me."

"Now, come on and behave, Mest." He said with faux friendliness,

"After all, I'd hate to have to kill my newest messenger…

 **Back at Fairy Tail…**

Inside the Recovery Room, Wendy had stood up and just finished speaking with Romeo, Erza, Mirajane, Gajeel, and the Twin Dragons when Jellal walked in; and judging by the sour look on his face, a few of the more perceptive folks in the room easily guessed who he was speaking with.

"It went that bad?" Erza greeted him with a weak attempt at humor; and Jellal nodded as he approached the group, which had made a ring of chairs in the space between all the beds.

"I'm beginning to understand why the dragons killed off the gods." He joked grimly as he moved to take an empty seat beside Erza and Romeo, in the seat Wendy had vacated as she walked past him to check on her patients on more time before leaving to speak with Iga.

"That guy can't be that bad, can he?" Romeo asked Jellal while occasionally glancing to Wendy as she worked, "I mean, he did save us from Zancrow."

"He saved us because he needs us." Jellal replied pointedly, but Mirajane quickly disagreed.

"Hm… I wouldn't be too sure about that," She said in her usual cheery tone, "I haven't known him for long, but Lisanna trusts him; and she's usually a great judge of character."

"It doesn't matter if he's good or not," Jellal told her honestly, "Gods and dragons only create chaos when they get involved with humans."

"Easy there, pal," Gajeel warned Jellal with vague annoyance, "I'm with you on the whole god thing, but you better not start to insult Metalicana, or we're gonna have a problem."

"Yeah!" Sting added, starting to get out of his seat until Rogue put an arm before him and held him back, "If you trash-talk Weisslogia or Skiadrum, I'll kick your ass!"

Finally finishing her last examination of the patients, Wendy, though she felt slightly insulted as well, decided to simply ignore the conversation on her way out; and she quietly slipped out the door while everyone else was busy arguing.

"Darn it," She soon heard Iga complaining as soon as she was out the room, "I really thought that'd be Mirajane…"

"She'll be out here soon," Wendy assured him as she began to walk towards him and Lisanna, "If she doesn't get caught up in all the arguing going on in there, anyway."

"Arguing, huh?" Iga remarked before sighing sadly, "I had hoped there wouldn't be any of that happening over me, but I can tell now that that was wishful thinking…"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Wendy consoled him, "We always find something to argue about around here.

"You said that you wanted to talk?" She added as she finally reached the bar, and Lisanna soon made a nervous glace between the two before slowly getting up.

"You know what?" She said to Iga awkwardly while slowly moving past Wendy, "I'm gonna go and tell the kitchen your order, you know… since Mira's so busy…"

"I did," Iga finally answered Wendy as he watched Lisanna disappear behind the kitchen door, "Although, I also suggested we should have this talk in private."

"We're alone right now," She pointed out the obvious, but Iga was unconvinced.

"For now," He added pointedly, "But our talk really should take place somewhere else."

"Then take me where we need to go," the Sky Maiden insisted, "Because I've got a lot of questions, and you promised to give the answers."

"I told everyone else that I'd answer their questions, sure." Iga corrected her, "But I'm pretty sure I only said that I needed to talk with you, though."

Now Wendy understood why Jellal had walked into the Recovery Room in such a foul mood.

"So, you're not going to answer my questions?" She questioned him with a warning glare.

"I didn't say that, either; I'm just pointing out what I said…" Iga clarified calmingly; but Wendy was still clearly irritated, judging by the way she crossed her arms and stared at him impatiently.

"Oh, fine." Iga sighed in defeat, "I was hoping I'd get to eat something before this little chat, but sure. Let's head out front, I guess."

Wendy quietly followed the redhead after he made his suggestion and stood up, walking just behind his left side as they moved for the front doors of the guild; but just as Iga went to push the doors open for them, a battered and bruised Mest Gryder burst through them from the other side. Wendy was just far enough to avoid being hit by the doors slamming open, unlike Iga, who found himself suddenly being squished between a door and the wall that he had just been facing.

Not even noticing the two people he blitzed past, Mest started calling out for anyone nearby as he ran for the bar.

"Erza! Jellal! Mirajane?! Dammit, where is everyone?!"

"Mest!" Wendy quickly said to him as soon as she recovered from the shock of his sudden entrance, "We're right here!"

"Yeah, here…" Iga groaned in pained agreement as he watched the door that hit him slowly swing back into place.

"Wendy? Thank god…" Mest said with some relief before suddenly running back to her, "Wendy where's everyone else? There's something they need to know, and it can't wait!"

"Everyone's in there," the Sky Maiden answered while pointing to Recovery Room door, "Why, Mest? What's happened?"

"What do you think, Edo happened!" He replied gruffly before beginning to hurry towards the resting room, "Sorry, but I really got to talk to Jellal!"

Iga had instantly recovered his bearings upon mention of his rival's name; and he quickly created two portals, one on the door just inches ahead of Mest, and the other on one of the guild's entrance doors.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second!" He called out to a now frozen and confused Mest, who was suddenly staring at Wendy again for some bizarre reason, "Sorry, but did you just say 'Edo'?"

"I did, but who the hell cares?!" Mest impatiently replied, "And who are you, anyway? And what are you doing in my guild?"

"Me?" Iga answered calmly, "Oh, no one in particular… I'm just the god that saved half your friends, but it's no big deal…"

"God?" Mest blinked as he repeated the word slowly, "You're a… god?"

Before Iga or Wendy could answer him, he suddenly made a realization aloud.

"Then… Zancrow, he wasn't lying… Dammit, none one of them were!

"Wait, you!" Mest added as he suddenly approached Iga, "I hate to be rude and start asking for favors, since I don't even know who you are; but… you really need to kill Edo, and you gotta do it quick!"

Slightly taken aback by the man's animated forwardness, Iga took a moment to choose his words before responding.

"Mest, believe me, I really wish I could. Why? What's he done now?"

"Edo and his psycho-bitch girlfriend just kidnapped all the soldiers I brought to fight Zancrow, and then they let me go so I could tell everyone his next move! Now, can you please get your magic out my way; so I can warn my friends?!"

 **About two hours later…**

"Well, folks, here we are," Iga declared formally as he walked into the massive living room of his home with his four new guests, "Welcome to the Sanctuary!"

"Whoa…" Lector pointed out the obvious, shielding his eyes and following Sting and Rogue into the room as he did, "It's really bright in here!"

"I agree…" Frosch added as he walked beside his Exceed friend.

"Is it?" Sting remarked honestly, "Everything looks fine to me, even if everything's painted white."

"Sting, that's not paint," Rogue said sadly as he fought off the urge to comment on his friend's poor perceptive skills, "Everything in this place is made out of light."

"Really?" Sting questioned no one specific, though he looked to Iga as he spoke; and the redhead nodded in response before explaining.

"That's right, my friend. This little pocket dimension of mine is made entirely from my light magic; and since we're in a place made entirely out of my light, I can control almost every aspect of the Sanctuary.

"As a matter of fact," He added as he decided to give a demonstration of his power, "I'm starting to think that this room should be a bit bigger, now that we'll have more people living here…"

With a dramatic wave of Iga's hand, the living room around them began to expand for yards in all directions, but the impressed group became truly amazed when the furniture itself began to change shape. A few chairs multiplied themselves while tables and couches stretched, until the room finished reorienting itself to look like a near perfect copy of its smaller version.

"Cool…" Lector said slowly while Sting curiously walked up to a chair near one of the two coffee tables in the living room, which he began to expect; but the group watched in surprise when the dragon slayer suddenly bit off a top portion of the chair.

"Sting!" Rogue instantly began to scold his friend for his rudeness, "Do not eat the man's furniture!"

"Sorry…" He replied before he could start chewing, "I had to, I was curious…"

"I don't care! We're standing in front of a god here, so be polite!" Rogue quipped impatiently, "And don't talk with your mouth full, either!"

"Jeez, Sting," Lector chimed in with a sad sigh, "You really could learn to mind your manners…"

"I agree…" Frosch added; but Iga surprised them by soon revealing that he did not share their opinion.

"Guys, I might be a god; but that doesn't mean I'm some dignified person or anything like that. In fact, I don't really care about formalities and etiquette in the slightest. Sting can eat the furniture all he wants, as long as he doesn't start eating through the walls or anything important; like the fridge. Never. Hurt. The food."

"I don't totally understand what you're saying, but that last part's a rule I could get behind." Sting remarked pleasantly, dropping the bag he carried in before he began to walk around the room; and Rogue quickly noticed his friend was walking straight towards the kitchen.

"Is this where you keep the food? Mind if I have some?" they heard Sting say as he stared at the large refrigerator before him.

"I can't believe you're still hungry after eating all that food at Fairy Tail…" Rogue commented before Iga could answer.

"Why?" Sting wondered honestly, "Aren't you hungry too? 'Cause I know you can eat way more than what you did back there."

"I am, and I could, but I have something called manners; and I'm not gonna rudely stuff my face in front of people everywhere we go!"

Iga chuckled loud enough to draw the pair's attention before speaking to the four of them.

"You guys can have as much food as you like, and whenever you want; but this isn't a restaurant, alright? Everyone that lives here is expected to help with chores and errands; and everyone takes turns cooking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Simple enough." Rogue replied agreeably.

"I think so, too." Frosch added.

"Ya know…" Lector thought aloud, "For a guy that doesn't care about rules, it sounds like he's got a lot of them about his food…"

"Well yeah," Iga said matter-of-factly, "Food is a very serious matter."

"I think so, too!" Frosch agreed happily, which made Rogue shake his head in amusement.

"Anyway," Iga returned to giving his guests the tour of their new home, "If you'd take your things and follow me…"

Rogue and the two Exceeds were already carrying their belongings, so they were first to follow Iga towards one of the two doors in the large room as Sting picked up his gear; and he was right behind them as they entered an equally large hallway.

"The layout of the Sanctuary is pretty simple: this is the only hallway in the place, so it's not too easy to get lost around here… To the right you'll find Trunks and Lisanna's room, the combat room, the library, and the lounge; and right in front of us is the door to me and Ves' room."

"Huh?" Lector said with some confusion, "Really? 'Cause I don't see a door here…"

"Well, as you'll soon see…" Iga explained, "I've never bothered to put a lock on any of the doors around here, but I do have a few items of both personal and scientific importance; and I keep them safe by only allowing folks with my magic to have access to them."

"Makes sense." Rogue commented thoughtfully before Iga continued, turning to his left and walking ahead as he spoke.

"Now to the left, where we're going, is the lab and workshop, the storage room, your two rooms; and at the end of the hall is the door to the pool, hot tub, and gym. You guys will have all the creature comforts that you would back home."

"Minus all the noise," Rogue remarked optimistically, "I will enjoy that."

"Not me," Sting disagreed with a hint of melancholy, "I kinda miss it already…"

"Oh don't worry, Sting; as soon as we get to work, I'm sure you guys will be back home in no time." Iga replied reassuringly as he walked past a door on his left and right before stopping between two more and speaking again, "And right here, we have your rooms. They're completely identical at the moment, so there's no need to argue over who gets which. Both are completely furnished and have adjoining bathrooms with a bath and shower included; and in one of the corners by the beds, I even added a comfy setup for my Exceed guests as well."

"Sounds like you thought of everything." Rogue observed, which made Iga nod in agreement.

"Yeah, well," the god said amusedly, "When you're immortal, you get plenty of time to think about a lot of things.

"Anyway," He added as he decided to finish his brief tour, "Since I imagine you guys would like to take your time getting settled in, I'll leave you to it; but first, you'll need these."

Creating a small portal on the wall to his left, Iga slowly reached into it with his left hand before withdrawing two small orbs that his four guests initially mistook for cue balls; and he quickly explained their purpose as he handed one to each of the Twin Dragons.

"These two lacrima are remotes that let you have some of the perks of my magic. With these, you can see anything you want, you can talk to anyone that you want -wherever they are; and you can rearrange your rooms however you see fit, along with changing the lighting. However, since you two are training under me now, I've limited these remotes' transportation abilities so that you can't go back to Earthland; until your training is over, the only two safe places for you would be here and Earth, where I'll be."

"And if there's an emergency back home?" Rogue asked curiously, voicing one of a few similar concerns he and his friends had, "Say we see Edo or Zancrow attacking people on Earthland again, would we be allowed to go back then?"

"In an emergency, sure; and as I said, if someone like Yukino or Minerva wanted to ask you something about your guild business, you'll be perfectly able to advise them as you see fit." Iga explained, "In fact, because my focus will mainly be on Earth, I'm counting on you guys to be my eyes and ears when it comes to Earthland. If you see or hear about anything bad happening there, you just let me or Ves know about it; and we'll all take care of it. Just remember that unless we're here or in Fairy Tail, we can't talk about my wife just yet; since she's our secret weapon and all that. I'd include Earth on that list, but after that stunt I just pulled off at Akane, there's a strong chance that Edo will be watching both Earth and Earthland much closer from now on.

"Anyway, we can talk about him tomorrow after you've finished settling in and I'm finished helping Gohan and company with their battle on Earth. Do you guys have any questions about anything, before I go?"

"Not me," Lector said honestly.

"I think so too." Frosch agreed.

"I think I'm with them," Rogue added as he began to examine the remote closely, "But I must admit, it is going to be interesting, being a shadow wizard that's using light magic…"

"It won't be as difficult as you think," Iga reassured him before leaning his shoulder casually against the wall to his left and elaborating, "You've already controlled light a few times with Sting's help, haven't you? Just think of this like you're simply kicking off the training wheels. You get that analogy, right?"

"We do." Sting and Rogue answered simultaneously before Sting asked on his own,

"One last thing: how exactly does your magic do all that stuff you said it could? I get that you can fight and travel with it, but talking to people? How does that work?"

"It's not like telepathy, if that's what you're wondering," Iga informed the pair, "All I do is create smaller portals near whoever I wanna talk to, and that's it. Remember: with even the simplest forms of magic, someone can do amazing things if they're clever and creative enough.

"Actually, since we're on the subject…" The immortal added as he realized something, "I think I can give you guys your first training exercise; and I think it's pretty simple, so it shouldn't take you guys long to figure it out."

"So what is it?" Lector wondered eagerly, to which Iga replied by creating a new portal on the wall to his left.

"This is it." He said proudly as his four guests turned to face the surprising image before them.

"No way…" Sting remarked with quiet surprise, "This is…"

"This is when we fought Natsu and Gajeel at the Grand Magic Games," Rogue finished his friend's sentence before wondering, "But how are we seeing this? That was years ago. Your magic lets you see into the past?"

Iga nodded proudly.

"How?" Lector chimed in with immense curiosity; but Iga only broadened his smirk before answering him cryptically.

"And that's the test. Sting, both you and Rogue can now also do this, thanks to those remotes I gave you; but I'm not going to explain how, that's for you to figure out on your own. And by 'your own', I mean literally. I'll hear what your guesses are tomorrow if you haven't figured it out by then; and if you have, the other part of your test will be to see how many other ways you can use my magic by the next time we meet.

"Now," Iga concluded as he widened the portal and changed its destination, "If there aren't any more questions, I'd like to head back to Earth now; so I can grab at least a little sleep before all hell breaks loose…"

Sting and Rogue felt sympathetic with him, so they kept their curiosity to themselves with their Exceed friends following their lead; and they all said farewell or wished Iga luck before he stepped through the rift in the wall and closed it behind himself.

 **Back on Earth…**

Vesta Flaremane was reclining on a couch inside the living room of her on-loan capsule home, which Suno kindly allowed to be reconstructed just beside her own home, as she killed time while waiting for Igneel to return. Vesta had spent much of her time by reading every book she could find within the home while also raiding it of every last piece of junk food; and she was in the middle of finishing both tasks as she relaxed on the couch, holding a book in one hand while munching on an assortment of snacks with the other, when her partner finally arrived.

Walking through a portal he temporarily created on the door, Iga walked in with a relieved sigh.

"Finally… alone at last… We are alone right?"

"We are," Vesta answered thoughtlessly as she continued reading, about to say more until Iga noticed the small pile of candy and other snacks laying on her stomach.

"You are still eating?!"

"Yeah," She confirmed nonchalantly as she bit into another chocolate bar, "So what? It's called a midnight snack for a reason, you know."

"So what?" Iga remarked pointedly, "This all the snacks we have left, now!"

"That's too bad, I guess."

"You guess?!"

"Why? Want an apology?"

"An apology would be nice…"

"Fine, I'm sorry you got here after I started eating everything."

"That is not the apology I was looking for."

"True, but it's the one you got."

Iga, facepalming as he did, sighed in defeat before redirecting their conversation.

"I guess it's for the better, anyways," He admitted as he moved to stand before the center of the couch, and he slowly took some of the candy from her while he spoke, "We might be giving this place back to Bulma or Trunks tomorrow, and who knows when's the next time they'll be using it…"

"So eat everything perishable before it can go bad, right?" Vesta quickly caught on before playing coy, "That was my plan all along. Jeez, it took you long enough…"

Ignoring her teasing, Iga started to eat the food in his hands before waving Vesta aside. She smirked at his lack of reaction before sitting up and shifting forward, though only long enough for Iga to take his seat; and she soon kicked her feet up onto the far arm of the couch as she rested her head on her husband's lap, holding the snacks against her gut with one hand as she moved around.

"So," Iga started a new conversation as he tossed all the candy he had into his mouth at once, "Were you watching anything after we attacked Edo?"

"Oh, just here and there. I know the main plot points, at least." She answered honestly while smirking at his ever-terrible eating habits, "I was kinda flipping through the channels when I was watching, though; there was a lot of crazy things happening tonight."

"I guess that means something went down here, too?" Iga replied curiously, to which Vesta nodded.

"Yup," She confirmed while also eating the last of the junk food, "It took a bit of effort, but I was able to find Trunks fighting against Goten and Natsu, and then I watched the tail end of Gohan's fight with his dad…"

"Whoa, hang on," Iga interrupted her with immense curiosity, "Gohan and Goku fought? Who won?"

"Goku did, of course. Gohan came pretty close, though; that cat Korin would've had a mess on his hands if he didn't have any of those beans of his."

"Well that's a shame," Iga remarked with a vaguely depressed sigh, "I was sorta hoping that Gohan's Ultimate God form would be enough, but oh, well…"

"You know, if you're so worried about keeping up with them," Vesta interjected humorously, "You should probably be training, or something like that."

"Yeah? And why would I do that…" He replied with dismissive humor of his own, "When I'm so busy sitting around here, being your pillow?"

"Heheh… You're not busy, Igneel," She pointed out the truth with a giggle, "You're just easily distracted."

"That's not true," He began to argue, "You're just a distracting woman."

"Flattery isn't gonna change facts, Igneel." She reminded him while trying to hide her appreciation, "If we want to keep up with the Saiyans, we're gonna have to train just as hard as they do."

"We?" Iga repeated before wondering, "So you've finally decided to get serious, too, huh?"

The light Keeper nodded slowly before swallowing the last of the junk food and laying her head back again, which allowed her to make eye-contact with her husband before he grinned and spoke again.

"Well that's fine by me, partner. Just don't complain later when you're struggling to keep up."

"Yeah, yeah," She accepted his teasing amusedly, "Just remember that my magic's better than yours, and it always will be."

"Eh," Iga quipped dismissively, "'Better' is a subjective term…"

"It is not!"

"It can be."

"Really, Igneel, you're picking a fight now?"

"Maybe I am."

Getting annoyed with her husband, Vesta gave up while crossing her arms and looking away impatiently; but Iga only smirked, since he was also just about to give up on her.

"Hey," He changed the subject curiously, "What did you mean by 'now'? Is there some kind of occasion I've forgotten about?"

"No," She informed him while holding her annoyed stance, "I just meant that, if we're going to find the sixth Dragon Ball tomorrow morning, there's a chance that tonight could be our last. Even if you survive dealing with Cosmos and Casus, there's still Chaos and Chronas to worry about; and no one has ever survived a real fight against either of them."

"Well," Iga concluded casually, "That's probably just because they haven't fought anyone with real power yet."

"I wish that were true," She admitted honestly, "But it's not. The Keepers recruit the strongest of the dead from all the universes, remember? I don't know much about Chaos, but I do know that he and Cerberus have a long history of brutality. Cerberus would bring him the recruits, and Chaos would kill the weak ones. Luckily, I skipped that whole filtering process by getting found by the first Claris.

"Funny thing is," She added as she finally glanced back to her husband, "She wanted me to take out Cerberus, since she had some kinda grudge against him and Chaos; but she had no clue that Chronas was training me on the side.

"Heh," She chuckled while smiling nostalgically, "You should have seen Claris' face when I practically slapped Cerberus around… She didn't expect to me be that strong, but she really didn't expect me to challenge her right then and there as well."

"Was it a hard fight?" Her partner asked curiously.

"Eh," She recalled with an honest shrug, "It could have been the hardest fight of my life; but my training under Chronas made things a lot easier. Even if she doesn't use her magic, we're probably going to need all the Saiyans when it comes time to fight her."

"Chronas is that strong?" Iga said with some surprise; and Vesta nodded again, though she stayed silent after doing so.

"And Cosmos and Casus?" her husband wondered with a more careful tone, having finally realized her concerns could possibly be valid, "Do you have any idea how strong they might be?"

The Keeper remained quiet for another half-second while thinking over her answer before giving it.

"Well, I think Goten and Trunks together should be enough to take on Cosmos, but he's not going to fight them alone; and I'm not talking about Casus, he's another problem entirely. You see, Cosmos is the guy that trains all the people Chaos doesn't eliminate; so odds are that whoever fights him will end up fighting a few, or maybe all, of his goons. And believe me, they will not fight fairly. Cosmos might have a strong sense of honor, but he'll do anything to kill anyone that he considers 'criminal'."

"And Casus?" Iga asked next, "What's his deal?"

"What isn't?" Vesta remarked with a weak attempt at humor, "That sneaky little creep's magic lets him hear anything he wants, and he has a bad habit of over-using it. But that's just why he annoys me, what makes him dangerous is that his speed is second only to Chronas; and he's so cunningly devious that no one has ever seen him go all out in a fight before. Actually, every person that's worked up the courage to challenge him was killed in one hit; so there's no way to know how strong he is until we actually fight him."

"And now I get why you're worried." Iga concluded thoughtfully, "Well, if Cosmos really wants to wait, we could always put off finding the Dragon Ball and keep training until you think we'd be better off."

"And what do you think Cosmos is doing right now? I know he's arrogant, but he's also obsessed with strength; and he is always training." She replied pointedly, "Trunks and Goten might have needed the time to train; but we can't wait any longer, that would give Casus even more time to spy on us."

"Yeah… you're right." Iga agreed with a sigh before trying to lighten the mood, "Well, maybe we could still wait and train; but we'd just blare music really loudly wherever we go…"

Iga smirked successfully as his wife chuckled at his joke before finally moving to sit upright beside him, responding as she did.

"I'd go deaf within a week, and you and your dragon ears; you'd last three days, tops."

Iga chuckled at the honest joke before deciding to change the subject.

"Anyway, I'm sure Casus and Cosmos have a whole bag of magic tricks; but I'd rather talk about other things right now.

"You know, happier things," He added as he casually wrapped his left arm around his wife, "Like how we plan on spending tonight…"

"Oh yeah?" She replied with a grin, having instantly recognized her husband's suggestive tone, "You sure you won't just pass out on me instead? You look more tired than you're acting."

"Well, I am a little tired…" He confirmed amusedly as he pulled her snug against his side, "But that is not why I'll be going to bed tonight."

Vesta fought off the urge to giggle at Iga before replying, just as he began to place a slow and gentle trail of kisses up the side of her neck.

"Gods, you're so corny," She remarked teasingly before purring under his touch and adding, "Mm… Among other things…"

Finally giving into her own desires, Vesta turned her head and body to face Iga before placing her lips against his; and the two quickly deepened their kiss as she began to lay back with him atop her.

"Oh, wait…" Iga suddenly remembered after a few seconds, "I had something I wanted to show you."

Sitting up slightly while making Vesta moan as he incidentally ground his groin against hers, Iga rested his left hand on the top of her right knee while he quickly waved his right hand; and his wife watched as he reached into a small portal he created on the seat cushion just left of her hip before retrieving from it an over-sized wine bottle, though the only label on it was a square white sticker with a black skull and crossbones stamp.

"Before you ask, this isn't poison," He explained humorously as he noticed the mix of curiosity and amusement on her face, "This is a magic liquor that Lisanna's big sis gave me; and it's supposed to be one that can get anyone as drunk as they want until they go to sleep."

"And you do remember that we've got to hunt a Dragon Ball in the morning, right?" She questioned him with poorly concealed humor, "Are you sure you wanna do that hungover?"

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," He answered honestly, "I mean, I dunno if you ever got drunk with any of your Keeper buddies; but for me, the last time I got drunk was way back when I was still mortal…"

"That is a long time…" Vesta remarked thoughtfully before Iga gave her a hopeful look while slowly shaking the bottle.

"So, what do you say?" He asked with poorly-disguised eagerness, "Mirajane also told me that it doesn't have a burn; and that it's supposed to taste really good…"

"Yeah?" She asked casually, pretending to appear dismissive while she was secretly using her ki to ferry two drinking glasses in from the kitchen, "What's it taste like?"

"That's the thing," He said as he recalled the details Mirajane gave him, making Vesta smirk from seeing that he was too busy trying to convince her to notice the floating glassware behind him, "This stuff has a fruit's flavor that can change with each sip, but it only changes to flavors that the drinker likes."

"And now I get why there's a poison label," She concluded with interest, having been slightly distracted from her ruse, "If it tastes good and has no burn, people would drink way too much."

"Or they'd drink it too quickly." Iga agreed with a nod, "Actually, I'm pretty sure Mira committed a small crime by just handing me this bottle. Only registered wizards are allowed to have this stuff back on Earthland."

"And you're sure you don't want to hold onto this stuff until we have something to celebrate?" She asked curiously, "This stuff sounds like something we should save for a party or two."

"Sweetheart," Iga replied flirtatiously, "I've always got something to celebrate when you're around."

He grinned triumphantly when he saw her smirk while biting her lower lip, thinking he was finally winning her over; but she was only thinking dirty thoughts, and fighting off the urge to skip drinking and get straight to business.

"Come on, Ves…" he practically begged her, "You really don't want some?"

Deciding to finally give Iga what he wanted, Vesta kept grinning in silence as she used her ki to clink the two drinking glasses above his head; and she smiled mischievously at the look of realization that slowly appeared on her husband's face.

"Wait… you were just toying with me, weren't you?" He immediately knew to ask her, seeing her nod before seeing the glasses lower until they hovered just before his face, "How long have those been there?"

"Almost as soon as you started the sales pitch," She informed him amusedly before teasing him, "Well, come on, Igneel. Are you gonna sit there and stare at the glasses, or are you actually gonna fill them?"

About a half-hour later, the couple found themselves sitting side by side on the black-rug covered floor with their backs against the couch. Iga, sat on the right, had his left arm draped around his wife's shoulders while his right hand held his near-empty drinking glass before him.

"You're actually gonna finish that?" Vesta wondered aloud with a goofy grin on her face.

"Probably," He answered pensively before glancing to her and asking, "Why? You think I shouldn't?"

The light Keeper shrugged before answering him.

"Eh, you can do what you want; I'm just hoping you'll be able to make it to the bedroom later."

"Heh," Iga chuckled, "Well, I'm not gonna make any promises."

As soon as he finished speaking, the light god finished his drink and set the glass aside on the floor to his right while Vesta shook her head at him dejectedly.

"You're hopeless." She sighed as she shook her head, but Iga only smirked at her comment.

"I sure am." He agreed humorously before shrugging with a mischievous smirk and adding, "But honestly, who needs a bed to have a little bit of fun?"

"You know, I was talking about actually going to bed, you pervert." She teased him, even though she partially agreed with him; and Iga certainly saw through her act as he dismissed her teasing.

"Whatever you say, dear." He said with flat humor as he glanced around the room, until he suddenly remembered something aloud.

"Oh, crap!" He swore at himself while slapping his free hand onto his face, "I didn't finish talking with Wendy!

"Dammit…" He sighed in defeat as he dropped his right hand to his side and leaned back until his head rested on the couch, "I knew I had forgot something important; ever since I left Fairy Tail, I had that feeling…"

"And unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about that now." Vesta chipped in honestly after having shaken her head at him in sad amusement, "Considering everything she was doing tonight, she's definitely passed out by now."

"Yeah…" Her husband agreed depressingly, "I just can't believe I forgot. Hell, Goten's probably gonna kill me when he finds out about this…"

"Eh… at this point, I'd be more worried about Wendy," She added ponderously, "Yeah, and even better, she's probably strong enough to hurt you now, too. I think between both of them getting angry with you, you might actually get hurt."

"You're not helping." Iga whined as he continued staring at the ceiling.

"Wasn't trying to." Vesta quipped cheekily before moving from under Iga's arm and turning around to sit cross-legged and face him so to show she was no longer being funny, "Clearing the air with her and Goten is a serious issue here, especially if we want them to fight with us."

"I know, I know." Iga assured her as finally stopped staring at the ceiling to look at her while scratching his head thoughtfully, "Considering how close her and Romeo are getting, she really does need to know the truth; and I can't even hope one of her friends would fill her in for us, now. Sure, that'd be good for her; but if she heard the truth from someone else now, it'd make me look worse than she already thinks I am."

"Well at least you know how badly you screwed up," The light Keeper remarked honestly before taking a more supportive stance, placing her left hand just above his left knee and massaging the spot soothingly, "Look, you might have messed up; but try not to worry about it too much, okay? Staying focused on our other problems aside, I'm sure Wendy and the rest of Fairy Tail will forgive you in the long run."

"Yeah?" Her partner replied skeptically; but instead of reassuring him, she only smirked once again before responding.

"You know what I'm talking about, Igneel; so don't fish for compliments," She called him out teasingly before pointing to herself with her right hand and saying, "That's my thing."

"It sure is." Iga agreed dismissively before finally acknowledging her point, "Hm… I guess the people at Fairy Tail are pretty forgiving… you're probably right."

"Probably? Please…" She said confidently as she shifted forward until her thigh was against his knee, "I'm right and we both know it. If you keep helping them out like you did tonight, you'll win all of them over eventually."

"Well," He agreed sheepishly with another awkward scratch of his head, "That is the plan…"

"Then quit beating yourself up already, ya big idiot." She told him with a hint of impatience, "I'd rather talk about happier things right now, anyway."

"Yeah? Like what?" Her husband wondered as he went along with her suggestion.

"Oh, I dunno…" She answered with a sly smirk, "I guess I could tell you tell you what I did to Edo after I helped you attack his Shadow…"

Iga quickly perked up after hearing her words, and the Keeper grinned proudly at the interested look on his face before commenting amusedly.

"Got your attention now, don't I?"

"You always have my attention, Ves." Iga confirmed with vague amusement before getting to the point, "So, what happened? Did you use your magic on him or something?"

"I sure did," She affirmed his first guess eagerly before chuckling and adding, "Heh. That poor sucker's gonna be confused for a while, since I secretly took away his ability to see us, and all our friends."

"Really?" the dragon god questioned with hopeful skepticism.

"Really really." Vesta replied with a triumphant smirk, "I couldn't reach him or Cel until you temporarily evicted them; but as soon as they were out in the open, I casted a spell on both them and Zancrow. Now, none of them will be able to see anyone they consider a threat until I want them to."

"So in other words," Iga summed up her revelation with an excited grin on his face, "We won't have to worry about Edo attacking any of our friends, right?"

"That's the idea," His wife answered with another nod before explaining, "I'll continue keeping any eye on everyone, since he'll still be able to hear or sense us if he pays enough attention to detail; but unless he's crazier than I remember, I doubt he'll make any moves against us with such a huge handicap."

Iga was quiet for a few seconds as he processed what he was hearing. For more than a millennium, Edo had always been a lingering threat -one that Iga even spent hundreds of years in isolation to avoid provoking; but now, for the first time in his life, the immortal was finally being told that the opposite was now the case.

"Hello? Earth to Igneel," Vesta asked as she rubbed his leg to get his attention again, "You still with me?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just…" He replied as he finally finished collecting his thoughts, "I can't really believe it, you know? Every day of my life, I've had to worry about the chance that he'd harm people I care about; or that he'd do something that could endanger an entire planet. He might still be a problem we'll have to deal with, but just realizing how big our advantage is over him makes me feel so damn happy; Honestly, I never thought I'd feel this confident again."

"Now, that's probably just the liquor talking." The Keeper remarked dismissively, but Iga quickly shook his head and reached for her left hand with his own before responding.

"No really, Ves, I'm serious." He admitted while lightly squeezing her hand, "I thought getting you back was a miracle; but it turns out that you're just a miracle worker…"

"Stop it, Igneel, you're making me blush."

As Vesta attempted to be dismissive once more, she scratched the back of her head awkwardly while glancing away sheepishly. Although she was usually happy to gloat and bask in people's adulation, she knew exactly how important this issue was to her partner; and the reminder that he, the man who was once her master, now believed more in her than in himself was somehow both humbling and ennobling.

"Am I?" Iga commented humorously, "I'm glad you told me, 'cause you've had pink cheeks since you started drinking."

"What? And you don't?" She quipped as she glance back to him, and she removed her left hand form his to pinch the right side of his face as she finished making her point, "'Cause this looks pretty red to me…"

"Nah," He lied amusedly as she released him, "That's just my natural hue."

"Of course it is." She agreed sarcastically, "And my skin is actually a weird shade of purple."

"It is?" He pretended to believe her, "I'm impressed; you managed to hide the truth from me after all this time…"

"Oh, whatever." She replied dismissively with another shake of her head before deciding she was tired of sitting on the floor, "Now come on and help me up; I've been in these rags too long."

"Rags?" Iga feigned being insulted as he tried to stand up, planting his right hand on the couch for support as he spoke, "That's half of a god's gi you're wearing…"

Before Vesta could reply, Iga slipped under his own weight; and she fought off the urge to giggle as he flopped back into a sitting position.

"Okay, that coulda gone better." He mumbled before trying once more to stand up; and this time, he turned and placed both hands on the couch before doing so.

"There we go." He remarked optimistically as he finally managed to stand on his own, but his wife only smirked again at the sight of him beginning to sway slightly.

"Whoa…" He added as he realized exactly how inebriated he was, "Now that's a headrush…"

Blinking and shaking his head quickly, Iga did his best to still himself before extending his right hand to his partner, who glanced at it tentatively before taking hold of it with her own right hand; and just as her husband pulled her up, which he did with more force than intended, the pair accidentally headbutted each other before toppling awkwardly onto the couch.

After she landed atop him and bumped heads with him once more, Vesta pushed up slightly with her left hand on the seat cushion while wincing and holding her right hand against her forehead, which was a motion her husband perfectly mirrored.

"Ngh… Okay… that, that was my bad." Iga groaned slowly as they recovered from the brief moment of pain, and his wife soon replied as they both lowered their hands from their faces.

"Nah, heheh… I shoulda seen it coming." She chuckled faintly as she planted her right hand on his chest, just above his heart; and she silently enjoyed the feel of his pulse while he gave her a goofy grin.

"You're not hurt, are you?" He assumed aloud with some concern, though his grin hardly faded.

"Do I look hurt?" She asked pointedly while mimicking the grin on his face and staring into his dark-yellow draconic eyes, which soon became another experience she was currently appreciating.

"Not one bit," He answered as he locked eyes with her, and he moved his left hand to cover the hand on his chest before adding, "But I had to ask anyway, you know? It's part of that whole 'love and care' thing, after all…"

"The keeper of a Keeper, huh?" Vesta joked with a softened tone, "Who'da thunk it?"

Her husband chuckled in amusement; but he stayed silent as he also savored the moment, which they both did for a few seconds before one of them finally said something; but only because the Keeper had suddenly laughed quietly to herself, which made Iga tilt his head slightly to his right and look at her with amused curiosity.

"Don't worry, I wasn't thinking 'bout you." She soon explained her outburst since his face was practically asking his questions for him, "Well… I kinda was, but I'm actually laughing at myself."

"You were, huh?" Iga questioned with feigned skepticism as he used his right hand to grab her by the waist and pull her firmly against him, "And do ya wanna let me in on the joke?"

"I might." She said cryptically before lowering her face closer to his and teasing him again, "But I dunno if I wanna risk sounding all corny and sappy like you…"

This time, Iga was smart enough not to take the bait; and instead of risking her teasing him, the redhaired god kept his mouth shut while looking at her with a mix of amusement and strained patience. Though playing word games with her was fine by him, his source of impatience was the primal urges he was beginning to feel. He was acutely aware of every part of her that was pressed against him, and her scent was possibly more intoxicating than any liquor ever could be; but he had slowly become distracted from even that after he began to feel the tightness in his pants, which by now was starting to mentally hurt him.

"Oh fine, you win…" She sighed in amused defeat, glancing upwards briefly before looking back to him and finally answering, "Well, it's just that, at some points… I wonder if any of this is actually real."

Knowing once again that she would elaborate, Iga only held his curious gaze as she awkwardly glanced back and forth between him and the rest of the room while speaking.

"I've only wondered about this three times before, and I somehow feel less sure of the answer the more I try to find it. I guess being brought back to life and retrained by Chronas changed me more than I realized; but how couldn't I? Everything about their life involved either fear, scheming and backstabbing, or pointless displays of power; plus, after I had lost to Edo, I kinda thought that everything he said about me was right…"

"Ves…" Iga tried to interrupt her for her sake, sensing she was starting to get worked up; but she ignored him and kept on talking, though it was more like she was simply thinking aloud by this point.

"The first time I've felt like this should be obvious to you; but the other times, they happened because of the Keepers. Like most of the people they recruit, it did take some time for me to understand everything that had brought me to them; but the third time… well, that was something special, and not just because I got my light magic that day. Until then, I was in a dark place; and, well… you've sorta seen it. Even now, there are times where I'm just scared about what I am, or what I could be…"

"Ves, you don't have to say all this," He tried one more time to change the subject, as seeing her eyes begin to water was bothering him to no end, "I know you've changed a bit, but dying does that to you. And besides, I understand what you're worried about."

"Do you?" She surprisingly questioned him pointedly, making Iga blink in surprise in the process, "I didn't just die, Igneel, I was crippled, tortured, humiliated, and executed!"

For a couple seconds, a tense silence filled the room as her husband failed to find something comforting to say; but after feeling a stray tear fall from her face onto his, the immortal man found the courage to try one last time at redirecting the conversation.

"Ves…" He pleaded while briefly squeezing her tighter, "Please…"

"I'm sorry, but no." She quickly replied with a shake of her head, "I know hearing all this will make you feel guilty, but I'm not trying to; all three of us had done something that led to what happened that day. And yeah, dying hurt and all; but that's not why it bothered me.

"What bothered me was knowing how much it hurt you." She admitted as she closed her eyes tightly to avoid looking at him, and she soon lowered her forehead onto his before she continued to speak.

"I was weak and ignorantly overconfident, and I should have done what you wanted me to do; but I didn't. And because I didn't, Edo finally had that perfect victory he'd been looking for.

"The sight of you, and that look in your eyes…" She added after biting her lower lip in a failed attempt to stop crying, "Your head was barely still attached to your neck, and you were bleeding everywhere; but you were somehow still trying to fight…"

Iga was slightly relieved her eyes were closed as she spoke, since she was unable to see that his eyes were now watery as well.

"When I woke up in Otherworld, I was so ashamed of myself; and no guy behind some big friggin desk was gonna make me feel any better about it, no matter how nice they were. Between the gods there and at Grand Kai's palace trying to give me advice, the only thing any of them were able to convince me of was the fact that I needed to get stronger. Eventually, I got tired of fighting for the gods' amusement; but I still wanted to train, so I snuck onto our Supreme Kai's world and trained there until Chronas showed up.

"Instead of punishing me for ignoring the gods and trespassing on sacred land, she offered me a new life and a reason to live it; so I eagerly took her offer. I trained under her for almost two hundred years; and getting insanely stronger was the only 'good' thing to come from it. She brainwashed me, manipulated me, and used me; all just to get whatever she wanted, and I didn't catch onto any of it until I got my powers.

"Heh," She chuckled grimly to herself before continuing, "I wasn't even thinking about bringing all this up, but I guess that if we still plan on fighting her, it'll come up eventually… So, yeah…

"I, um…" She suddenly found herself hesitating to speak, "Wow, this is actually harder to admit than I thought it'd be…"

Iga kept quiet after her voice trailed off, knowing that she would muster the courage eventually; and though his focus was entirely on her words, his instincts moved his left hand off hers to wipe the tears off her face for her. And after feeling the comforting touch of her partner, she finally recovered a semblance of her usual bearing.

"Right now, I'm sorry for a lot of things that I've done; but I'm more worried about what you'd think than anything. I know you can forgive me for some of the bad things I've done pretty quickly, you've always been that optimistic; but I don't know if you'll be so quick to get over what I'm about to tell you."

Iga wanted to calm her and tell her she had no need to tell him, but he could tell she needed to say whatever it was aloud; and his curiosity was getting the better of him as well. So instead of saying something comforting, he only hugged her a bit tighter before gently pushing her head back, hoping that a better view of his calm expression would help her in some way as she spoke.

"Look, Igneel, I… um…" She said as she blinked a few times to clear her eyes before finally meeting his gaze as he lowered his left hand from her face, "I don't know if you noticed this, but even when you started talking like how I am now; I acted so casually. I wanted to be happy about being back with you; so I've been ignoring all the guilt I've been carrying around since I figured out how my screwed up my mind had been, but you need to know this stuff...

"The main reason I fell for any of Chronas' mind games was because of her magic, which has a nifty little trick that lets her exist in any timeline that she can think of; and she can multi-locate much easier than I can, but that's not the point here… the trick she used most on me was her physical inability to lie. It's a perk from living in multiple times at once."

"Well, I can see how tricky that could get." Iga agreed helpfully, "She might have been training you; but she wasn't your master, even if you called her that. A master learns from their student just as much as the student learns from them; and it sounds like Chronas wasn't learning anything from you."

"True," Vesta conceded before adding honestly, "But she did learn a lot about _me_. And when I say that, I mean that she learned some very personal things about me; and about us…"

Her husband stared at her curiously as he tried to deduce what she was alluding to; but the answer evaded him as he considered all of the possibilities.

"You gotta understand Igneel," She said with a halfway decent attempt at masking the desperation in her voice, "When she trained me in secret to be her assassin, she always called me by the name I would have -the name of my victim; and in some sick and blind sense of humor, I would even smirk at the name she gave me. I was under her thumb for _so_ long that I'm not kidding when I say that I was a different person. I wasn't Vesta anymore, I was Claris -a person that Chronas created with false-truths and misdirection."

She shut her eyes tightly to keep from crying again, and the pause gave Iga a chance to speak again.

"Whatever you've done, Ves, I can at least tell you that you're not a bad person now. I mean, really, what kinda bad guy gets this worked up over stuff like guilt?"

"I know," She agreed with a weak chuckle before trying to stay serious, "But Igneel, I seriously crossed a few lines back then; and I even… I even hated you; at one point…"

"You did?" Iga asked with some surprise; and she nodded briefly before explaining.

"That's how seriously brainwashed I was. If Chronas wanted me to become the ruthless killer she wanted me to be, she needed to make me forget all the things you taught me about being a hero; but she went further than that. She acted like she was my friend, and I never sensed she was lying to me; so who was I to question the things she said or what she showed me?

"And boy, did she tell me a lot… First, she told me that my death drove you to insanity, which eventually led to you being full-blown evil as time passed; and then she showed me the so-called 'turning point' moments of your life after my death. Chronas' story went further: supposedly, you had actually killed Edo at some point; but instead of getting rid of that man's power once and for all, I watched you combine it with your own… And you became something much worse than him. I saw you murdering innocents with a smile on your face, I saw you sleeping with strange women like it was nothing, and I saw you destroying whole towns and cities just because they were in the way; but even worse, there was no one around to fight back in that timeline.

"I never wanted to believe any of this crap, but I did in the end; and suddenly, the only thing that mattered was if I was safe and happy, and that was it. Let's just say that we're lucky Chronas wanted me to kill Claris, and not someone like Cerberus or Chaos; because then she could have conned me as long as she wanted to."

"And I'm guessing that the first thing you did with your light magic was try to find me." Iga replied thoughtfully before his wife nodded and resumed her story.

"Well, it's not like I was gonna look up any of my sisters' descendants, was I?"

Iga chuckled and smirked for a moment at her humorous remark before straightening his face listening to her once again.

"But seriously… when I had finally seen you, I was so happy to discover how wrong we were about you; but then, on a hunch, I tried to re-watch some of your past that Chronas had shown me. Funny thing though, I couldn't find some of those moments; and others were totally different from what she showed me.

"Needless to say, I was very angry; but I also quickly realized that I had no good way to make Chronas pay for everything she did to me. You were still alive, and a bit stronger than before; but you and me alone would never be able to take on all the Keepers. Plus, I had felt so guilty about everything I told Chronas about you, and about the things I had done with her… I didn't think I deserved to be happy again.

"Stuck with my guilt, bitterness, and regrets, I waited seventy-eight years for something to happen -something that would let me turn the tables on that crazy bitch once and for all; and then you met a young man named Trunks Briefs, the son that we could never have…"

Iga squirmed awkwardly underneath her as he refused to admit her last remark was accurate.

"You are adorable when you're with him, you know that? He might not have noticed it, but I've seen how you look at him when his back's turned; and I have rarely seen you look at anything with that much pride and satisfaction. I mean, I can't blame you: He's a perfect student, he's honorable, fiercely loyal, smart as a whip, insanely strong; and he's not completely boring, even though his father is that stick-up-his-ass Saiyan."

Once again Iga found himself chuckling before Vesta spoke again.

"Things might finally be getting better, but there's still so many of our plans that could go wrong; and if don't tell you everything about my involvement with Chronas… Well, there's a few things I'm worried could happen, but I'm mainly worried about how you'd react to finding out I'd been keeping secrets. And there's a big one that I know Chronas is gonna bring up when I see her again."

The light Keeper had managed to seem cool and collected as she spoke thanks to her getting in a few jokes, but her calm demeanor soon shifted once more towards nervousness as she neared the topic she had ultimately been trying to set the context for; and her husband noticed it in her face as she slowly started her confession.

"Yes, I killed and tortured people; and yeah, I insulted you behind your back… but after I saw how faithful you were to me even though I had been dead for centuries, I realized exactly how unfaithful I'd been to you; and it's screwed up, but that one thing bothers me way more than all of the blood on my hands ever will…"

"Ves, it's alright; I understand." He interjected encouragingly when her voice started to fade once again, "You weren't you, and there was no helping it. So even if you tell me something I don't wanna hear, I'm not going to freak out about it, okay?"

"I know you won't," She agreed hesitantly, "But, I sorta think this fact might catch you by surprise. Because you see, Igneel, the thing is… back when I trained under Chronas, I… I uh…"

Deciding she had to look away before she could speak, Vesta turned her head all the way to the left and slowly began to mutter her confession.

"I kinda, well… you know, I… I kinda… slept, with her…"

Iga was completely silent in response to her words, and she was starting to worry what he was thinking; but the look on her face must have convinced him to finally respond, since he spoke up just before she could try defending herself.

"You… slept… wi- wait…" He sputtered as he forced words out his mouth before he could choose them, "Are… are you serious?"

"Umm… yes?" She awkwardly confirmed with a nervous squint, "You're not gonna… get… mad, are you?"

Iga was quiet for another moment as he still tried to process what he had heard; but he knew he had to say something, so he simply started asking questions.

"I… I don't know… I… I don't think so. I didn't even know you were into women; but yeah, um… how, uh… how did that happen? Was it like a one-time thing, or was it like a big deal?"

"Oh, well… it… it was a pretty serious thing. And it, um… happened… quite often, at one point. We were uh… very… active?"

"Okay, well… that might have been a bit more info than I expected," Her partner remarked in a vague attempt at humor before adding seriously, "Yeah… I guess specifics don't really matter here; but I do still wanna know something."

"You do? What is it?" She replied nervously, and he quickly asked his question in response.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that you regret it all now; but… it wasn't, like… some bad type of situation, was it? I mean… it might be a weird question, but… were you happy, when you were with her?"

"I… I don't know… maybe?" She said slowly since she was slightly confused by the question at first, "I mean, ultimately, my whole relationship with her was something she tricked me into; but that whole thing about her never lying kinda blurred the lines. She always was happy to be around me, so that did make me feel good for a while; and then she was very clingy when we were together. We never really talked about what we were, though, aside from some flirting; we just did it whenever we got bored or horny, and that was it. The only reason it happened so often was because…"

"Yeah, thanks, but… I don't think I really need to know all that..." Iga suddenly interrupted her after he noticed she was starting to get defensive, "I actually think I know enough know to understand."

"You do?" Vesta asked with the vaguest trace of timidity, "Really?"

"Of course." He affirmed with a warm smile and a reassuring nod, "She might have been conning you, but I don't think she would've gone that far unless she wanted to be with you; and since you hated me and loved her, I guess it only makes sense that you two hooked up."

"Love?" The Keeper said with some surprise, "I never said I-"

"Come on, Ves? You think I don't know who you are, or how you think? You and I have always thought and acted alike, haven't we? So I'm pretty sure lust wouldn't have fit into the equation… actually, I think the only thing that really surprised me is the fact that you're also into women…"

"I, well; not really…" She replied in confused honesty before adding, "Chronas was definitely attracted to me from the start, but it was more of an emotional thing for me; and it took a lot of time before I started thinking about her like that."

"Yeah, but that's how you felt before you did the deed." Iga pointed out in the most nonchalant manner he could manage, "I was wondering if your fling with her kinda opened the door for you, if you know what I mean?"

"I do; but, Igneel," She half-answered before asking him skeptically, "Why do you care if I'm also into women or not?"

"I'm just curious, I promise!" He reassured her with a bit more of a nervous tone than he meant before starting to explain himself, "I mean, if you are, that means I gotta step up my game; 'cause my competition just doubled…"

Vesta failed to stop herself from smirking at his amusing logic before wondering something.

"That's cute and all, buuut… you know you don't have to worry about me leaving you for someone else; so you've gotta be thinking about something else… maybe something perverted."

"Seriously? I can't believe you would think so little of me." Her husband acted insulted by her accusation, "Clearly, it sounds like you were into Chronas because you loved her; but I was just try to figure that out, alright? Jeez…"

His wife seemed less flustered by what he was saying, since she was partially amused; but her skeptical look only softened a bit before he decided to add more in his defense, having found one decent way to redirect the conversation in his favor.

"Come on, Ves, I couldn't even think like that because there aren't any other women that I find attractive; I was wondering because I was interested: usually we act and think alike, like I said; but I've never even considered being with a guy…"

"Are you wondering if you might end up being bi at some point?" She questioned him with a sly smirk.

"No, but I am wondering if you were accusing me of being perverted because it's actually you that was thinking dirty thoughts."

"What? No," She replied with poorly hidden surprise, "That wasn't why I asked that!"

"You were, weren't you?" He concluded teasingly before wrapping his arms fully around her and adding suggestively, "I mean, it's okay if you were; like… I'm not totally opposed to any ideas you might wanna run by me, if you want…"

"Oh come on," She interrupted him accusingly, "You're being a pervert right now!"

"Yeah, but only 'cause you want me to act like one."

"I do not!"

"Of course you do; because that would mean that I'm wrong, and you're right. Pretty simple math, if you ask me."

"And I think you're over-simplifying things."

"Yeah, whatever you say, dear… I just don't wanna be surprised later when I find how you've got some kinda weird list of candidates for a three-way, because I'm not very good with sharing…"

"Gods, you're terrible…" She sighed in dejected humor, so Iga quickly replied to explain himself again.

"Please… I was just saying that whatever you do, I do, remember? I mean, now that I think about it… seeing you and another girl go at it might actually do something for me…"

"Uh huh," She said nonchalantly even though his words confirmed her suspicion before she asked him one question as casually as she could, "So if that's the case, then, what would happen if I wanted to see you with another guy?"

Iga was slightly surprised by the question, and his immediate silence made it obvious to Vesta as she grinned knowingly; but Iga did his best to recover his casual bearing before finally answering her.

"Well… I mean… I guess, but… the situation's kinda different, isn't it? I haven't been broadening my horizons like you were."

"So that's a 'no' then?" She concluded curiously.

"I didn't say that either." He clarified his answer honestly, "I mean… I am a man of my word; it's just… well… let's just say that it'd take a lot of convincing, and a lot more of the stuff we're on now… But, uh… you're not really planning on-"

"Don't worry, Igneel, I'm not actually asking you to do anything like that; I just wanted to hear your opinion, that's all."

She smirked at the sight of her husband sighing in relief at her words before commenting on his reaction amusedly.

"Jeez, I really got you sweating with that one, didn't I?" She teased him lightly before shifting forward and slightly upward to sit on her shins and leaned into him, which forced him to sit properly on the couch as she rested her arms on his shoulders and pinned him into the seat with her legs; and Iga did his best not to get too excited from the fact that she was putting most of her weight into his lap, although that wasn't the sole cause for this effort. Since she was now sitting atop him, her current height advantage had her sat half-a-head above him; and he had to avoid staring down at her intimately-close, c-cup chest, which was only covered by a thin black tube top that did nothing to conceal her elegant figure.

"That's alright, though." She assured him honestly before admitting, "To be honest, I also got pretty uncomfortable when Chronas would flirt with me, at first. But I guess after being in isolation for so long with, I just kinda got used to it. I mean, even if it got annoying sometimes; it was never boring, at least."

"I don't doubt it; and I bet it probably stoked your ego, too." He agreed after nodding his head slowly; but she noticed the vaguely nervous tension in his voice, which caused her to maintain her grin. She had been secretly hoping to get him worked up, since then he might not notice exactly how relieved she was; because this conversation had apparently worked out much better than she hoped it would.

Where she had been concerned that Iga would be upset or disgusted, or that he might overreact and do something drastic, her husband had only been surprised for a few minutes before he was acting as casual as usual; and his lack of hesitation to forgive her only confirmed her deepest desire, which was her want to be genuinely loved by him again -with no secrets between them. All her fears about him disliking the new her were so greatly unfounded that she was downright ecstatic, but her pride could not allow her to reveal all of her joy at once; and since she had to do something to distract herself, she decided she could begin to thank him while trying to get past all of her tense nervousness.

"It did," She confirmed after managing not to chuckle at his remark; and Iga tried not to shiver from feeling her breath on his forehead before she lowered herself slightly to be eye-to-eye with him, speaking as she moved, "But how she was then could never hold a candle to how you are now."

 _Gods, help me…_ Iga said to himself as he slowly began to sweat from the effort of holding himself back. Her lips were merely inches from his, and her eyes gleamed with an intense eagerness that betrayed her best attempt at a neutral expression; but he also noticed another emotion in her eyes, though it was something to vague for him to figure it out just yet -and the sudden return of the intense strain in his pants was not helping his deductive reasoning to be any more precise, either.

"Yeah, well, you know…" He almost stuttered as he tried to act cool, "I do have to stay in shape if I wanna keep up with people like Goku and Vegeta…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'staying in shape' is an understatement," She remarked in honest amusement before leaning back slightly to get a better look at his scarred chest as she ran her right hand over it, "Because _this_ isn't just 'in shape', _this…_ is a damn sculpture…"

Iga found himself feeling oddly bashful about the sudden amount of flattery being heaped onto him; but feel of her touching his chest and abs was too distracting for him to even begin to question her. In fact, he was completely unable to speak when she soon trailed her hand upward until she used only her index finger to teasingly trace a line up the center of his neck; and she stopped only when she reached his jaw, where she gently hooked his chin before speaking to him again.

"What's wrong, Igneel? You seem kinda tense…" She asked teasingly as she enjoyed seeing the conflict between restraint and desire raging in his eyes, "Would you like it if I did something to fix that?"

Just before she had finished speaking, she intentionally ground into his groin as she brought her body against his again; and Iga grunted pleasurably before he could muster up a brief response.

"I'd love it."

"I bet you would." She remarked with faint amusement before whining about a thought that occurred to her only moments ago, "But as comfortable as we are, I am gonna have to get up to get these pants off…"

"Oh, I dunno about that…" Iga surprised himself with how quickly and casually he replied, moving his hands to grab the sides of her thighs as he did, "I mean, do you really need this pair of pants? We've got lots of them, after all…"

Vesta grinned as she knew could have practically predicted his last remark word for word, but she was still slightly surprised to see the white material of her gi pants suddenly catch fire from the knees and up; and she could only make a faint gasp and gawk at him while the very specific section of her pants were burned away almost instantly, leaving her with only the lower half of the pants' legs intact.

"Well, someone's real eager all of a sudden," She observed humorously before glancing down to see that the flames from her clothes had also incinerated the sections of his own gi pants that were in direct contact with hers.

"Oh… someone's actually really eager…" She added as she kept staring down the small space between them to briefly examine his red silk boxers, and what they were barely containing, "Like, that button down there looks like it could pop off at any second."

"Yeah?" Iga began to joke weakly after sneaking a peek as well, though he was slightly disappointed to see she was wearing one of those black, body-hugging, polyester-type sparring shorts Bulma made; and he quietly whined to himself about his wife's choice of super-durable (and heat resistant) underwear as he glanced back to her face and finished speaking, "I wonder why."

Continuing to smirk with proud amusement, the Keeper casually moved both her hands onto his waist before trying to crack another joke; but she quickly interrupted herself in order to stop Iga, who had started to lower his hand between her legs.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, cowboy." She said just as she gently swatted his hand away, and she failed to avoid grinning at the pouty and confused expression that flashed onto his face before beginning to explain her actions, "There's still a few things I wanna do before we get to that."

"Really? Okay, then…" He questioned her with a husky tone, "What are we gonna do?"

Grinning mischievously, Vesta moved her hands to his sides like she initially planned before pulling herself closer to him, leaning until her mouth was close to his right ear, and giving him his answer in the form of an intimate whisper.

" _We_ aren't gonna do anything, Igneel. You're gonna keep your cute ass in this seat while I do whatever I want; and your gonna keep your hands to yourself while I'm at it. I've got a list of things I want to thank you for, and I'm gonna need to concentrate if I don't wanna leave anything out. You get me?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied promptly before thinking his one question aloud, "But uh, I'm still allowed to talk, right?"

"Yes, Igneel, you can talk all you want; but honestly…" She began to say before Iga was forced to gasp slightly when she somehow quickly, stealthily, and gently grabbed the pointy bulge in his underwear with her right hand; and her devilish smirk widened into a grin as she held him by the manhood and finished her sentence, "I'm gonna be surprised if you're still able to talk by the time I'm done with you."

 **On Earthland, In the Shadow of the World…**

Edo found himself swearing under his breath once again as he stared into a large rift in the rear wall of his bedroom, which was rapidly changing images as his attention bounced between various locations on Earth and Earthland; but no matter where he looked, the dark wizard was unable to locate any signs of his targets.

"Dammit, what the hell is going on?" He wondered in frustration as his extensive search continued to prove itself a failure, "Can _he_ be doing this?

"He must be…" Edo concluded vehemently as he began to give up his search, "There's no one else who could."

Closing the portal with a snap of his fingers, he turned around to face the foot of his bed as he continued conversing with himself.

"But how is he doing it? It's been fifty years since he last showed off any fancy new tricks… The Saiyans couldn't have taught him something, could they? No, I doubt it…"

Taking his cloak off and tossing it into a portal that closed almost as quickly as it had opened, the dark wizard continued conversing with himself as he moved.

"Maybe Mavis was in on this, but still… I doubt that they even trust each other, by this point. Igneel might be trying to get on her good side by now, but she should be smart enough to try and keep her distance."

Still speaking to himself, he turned to sit on the foot of his bed before removing his form-fitting black shirt and tossing it a random direction, watching his shirt disappear into another rift before it could hit the floor.

"Igneel's optimism might blind him to the truth, but Mavis knows that gods mingling with humans is a dangerous thing… Knowing her, she's probably figured out that the only reason her guild's been caught between two rivaling gods is because I got bored with my lack of competition; hell, the only thing she probably likes about this whole situation is that her guild is getting stronger. Actually, now that I think about it; they're getting exponentially stronger with each encounter we have with them.

"Heh… even that Sky Maiden surprised me tonight," He added with a chuckle before starting to reach for one of his boots, planning to take them both off as he kept thinking aloud, "And here I thought breaking her heart would make her weaker… Well, I guess that just means I'll have to-"

"Oh, Eddie-dearest, am I allowed to come in now? Because it's getting really late; and I'm starting to feel real lonely over here."

Just as he had finished pulling up his pants' right leg so he could see the entirety of his boot, he was interrupted as he sensed a small portal opening from the wall to his right; and he glanced sideways to see Cel Rhea had stuck her nervously-curious face into a portal, hoping that as she spoke her goofy appearance in the wall might defuse any tension that her pestering him might cause.

"And I could have sworn I said to deal with it," He predictably quipped while staring at the wall ahead of him; but his impatient tone was much lighter than she expected it would be.

"I know, I know," She quickly gave him an apologetic tone before recalling his exact words aloud for him, "If I've got enough free time to get bored, then I've got enough to time to train; but I did do that, and I'm tired now. You've been locked away in here for hours."

"Quit exaggerating, it's only been one and a half, at the most." He pointed out honestly before questioning her while going back to trying to take his boots off, "And anyways, where has Zancrow gone? I thought you and he were going to keep sparring until I was finished my work here."

"We were, but he got tired of waiting for you to figure out what's going on with us; and he took off to go visit his girlfriend, said he needed to talk to her before Jellal could -or something like that. I tried to remind him about our situation and how going out alone was a stupid risk; but that hotheaded idiot completely ignored me, like he always does."

Edo could not contain his chuckle upon hearing her complaints, but he only gave her a real response after dropping one of his boots to the floor and starting to work on freeing his other foot as well.

"I suppose I should've expected him to do something like that; he did just try to kill off a good number of that girl's friends, after all."

"Honestly, I just can't believe he's actually fallen for that pink bimbo, of all people."

"And on the contrary, I'm convinced that it makes more sense than anything else he's done so far." He admitted thoughtfully as he finished taking off his last boot and set it down beside the first, "There's not many people that are as forgiving as she is, and I'm pretty sure she had some sort of fondness for him back when they were guildmates. Plus by my count, that sensory mage is one of the only two women on Earthland that'll actually speak to him without defaulting to instant fear and hostility."

"Eh, I guess that's true," the earth mage conceded before quickly returning to her concerns, "But I couldn't really care about either of them, as long as they don't get in our way. What I'm more worried about now is how tonight's gonna screw with my sleep schedule."

Edo smirked vaguely at her comment before replying.

"You know, I still can't decide if I do or don't enjoy how stubbornly singled-minded you can be. But one thing I do know is that I'm still busy working here, and you are interrupting me."

"Oh, come on, you were just starting to get undressed! That doesn't look like 'working' to me."

"You're testing my patience, my dear."

"And in other news: water is wet."

Once again, Edo found himself uncontrollably smirking at her humor; but he stayed silent as he considered caving into her demands, which Cel must have sensed since she immediately spoke again before he could finish making his decision.

"Please let me in, Ed." She pleaded one more time, "Look, if you really don't want me to distract you, I'll just stay quiet and go to sleep; and if you want help, I'll do whatever you ask."

"You know, if getting sleep is this important to you," He began to give her a suggestion without bothering to look at her as he created a new portal on the wall ahead of him, "Then maybe you should try remaking your old room for the night."

"Believe me, I thought about doing that already." She replied honestly, "But that doesn't solve the whole 'lonely' part of my problem."

"And beggars don't usually get to be choosers, but somehow you're breaking the mold."

"Eddie…"

Finally looking back at her to see the expression on her face, which was apparently as desperate as her tone was; and he questioned her with a blend of seriousness and amusement upon seeing exactly how badly she wanted to use his bed.

"Tell me this: are you really so attached to me that you can't even sleep on your own now?"

"…Umm, maybe?" She answered with uncertainty after taking a second to consider the question.

In response, Edo simply widened his smirk and shook his head dejectedly before turning back to the new rift on the wall and changing its image again before speaking.

"You truly are a lost cause."

"Of course I am," She agreed amusedly before casually adding, "But that's why you're with me in the first place, isn't it? You always love a good challenge."

Edo could not argue with most of her logic initially; so he pretended to pay attention to the portal's image while actually continuing his internal debate on whether to give in or not, which took him a few seconds to finally settle before speaking again.

"Alright, fine. You can come in if you'd like," He sighed with vague impatience before looking to her and adding, "But I can't rest until I finish my search and figure out what Igneel's done to us; so if you're gonna sleep, sleep. If not, then you speak only when spoken to. Understand?"

"You got it, boss." She eagerly accepted his offer and its terms as the portal her face was in suddenly expanded; and she hopped into the room with a satisfied smirk before adding a promise as she bent down to remove the silver bangles around her ankles, "I swear, you'll barely even notice me."

Out the corner of his eye, Edo watched her enter and begin to get undressed for bed as she spoke, but then after she turned to place the metal rings on the nearest nightstand, she started to remove the skirt-less, billowy pants of her green and bejeweled bedlah; and the dark immortal could not keep himself from commenting at the sight of her now mostly exposed backside, which only was only covered by the strings of her green bikini top and thong.

"Somehow, I really doubt that." He remarked humorously as he looked back to the portal before Cel could turn and notice that he was watching her, which he did in the nick of time as she moved to face the bed just as he averted his gaze; and he heard her flop onto his bed before she oriented herself properly while replying to him.

"Yeah? Well… aren't you a god that's had hundreds of years to train your mind and body? If you can't handle my alluring and commanding presence, then that's not really my fault, is it?"

Edo initially remained quiet in response to her questions, hoping to avoid admitting she had a point while pretending to focus on the image before him; but the earth mage easily saw through his act.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, you know where I'll be if you need me." She confidently confirmed her own statement with a grin before rolling onto her left side and tucking a pillow between her head and hands in order to be comfortable while still keeping an eye on her lover, whom she was currently eyeing up since the outfit he wore displayed all of his torso's muscle structure.

Deciding to save face by simply ignoring her, Edo actually began to resume his work; and for several minutes, he managed to stay on task without distraction for a few minutes until he unconsciously spoke to himself aloud once again.

"Damn that Igneel! You spend a millennium or two fighting with the man, and you'd think he wouldn't be able surprise you; but somehow that red-hair bastard managed to pull something out his ass yet again! And even worse, he's actually managed to hinder me this time! Grrrh, dammit, what did he do?!"

The earth mage was almost half asleep when her master began cursing to himself, but his frustrated outburst was more than loud enough for her to hear it clearly.

"I can sense some of the weaklings; but I can't see any of them! Hell, I can't even look at memories of some people…" He whined to himself before bending down to grab one of his boots and toss it angrily in a random direction before looking back to the portal; and he changed its image once again before continuing his tirade, "I swear, once I figure out what's going on, I'm going to ruin everything that he holds dear! I'll kill Gohan and his family, and I'll kill Lisanna to break Trunks' spirit; but I don't think I'll kill that runt. No, I'm gonna keep him here; and I'll let him watch everything I do to all of those guilds that he's so fond of! And then for good measure, once I'm done conquering Earthland, I'm going to wipe Earth off the map!"

"Mhmm… well, at least you've got the frame of a game plan…" He heard Cel slowly yawn as he stopped shouting to catch his breath.

"I wasn't speaking to you, rock-for-brains."

"Maybe, but… aren't you talking to me now?"

"Now is not the time to try my patience, woman."

"You know, I'm pretty sure you got to have patience before you could test it…"

Edo glanced halfway back to her to let her see his best attempt at a serious face before he spoke again, "And you're one wisecrack away from getting tossed out, you know that?"

"I do now." She replied with a faint smirk while slightly adjusting her hold on her pillow to stay comfy; and Edo shook his head amusedly a few times as he returned to staring at his magic monitor, which changed images once again as he resumed his search. But his renewed focus only lasted about half a minute before he heard his girlfriend hesitantly speak up while rolling slightly onto her back and propping a hand between her head and the pillow to allow him a better view of her face, just in case he decided to try and reading her face along with hearing her out.

"Hey, uh, Eddie? I don't wanna ruin your concentration or anything, but… I do have an idea, if you wanna hear it…"

Judging by the tense state of his muscles and the vague feeling of tension in the air, her boyfriend was probably staring at the wall impatiently; but she did note that he was giving her a chance., which was one she quickly took before he could change his mind.

"Well, it might not be a genius bit of friendly advice; but I was thinking that maybe we're thinking about this too much. I mean if Igneel did do something to us, there's no way we could reverse it until we find him; and since we can't find him…"

"We'd either have to wait for him to make a move," Edo finished her statement as he suddenly realized how helpful her point actually was; and his impatience quickly faded as he followed her train of thought aloud, "Or we'd have to do something that would force him to face us head-on. Something drastic…"

As he continued to think aloud, a bolt of inspiration suddenly struck him, and Cel did not need to see his face to know that his mood had completely changed to excitement; although she did not expect him to sudden gasp in realization before instantly snapping into a kneeling position on the bed facing her, with the look of pure joy on his face throwing her off in surprise.

"My dear, Cel, you are wiser than I give you credit! Honestly, how could I have ever over thought something so simple? Once again, you've proven that there's more to you than good looks and strong magic!"

The Earth God Slayer was blushing intensely as soon as her surprise at his spontaneity wore off; and as she struggled to find a decent way to respond while sounding humble, the dark god gracefully leapt atop her before kissing her directly on the lips.

Her eyes widened in momentary shock at realizing exactly how happy he currently was, but her accidental hesitation caused her to miss her chance to return the kiss as Edo slightly retreated in order to speak again.

"You know, this is only time I'll ever admit that Igneel was right about something:" He admitted with a straight face, "But I have been for a fool for trying to play this game solo. Training Orga and Zancrow have yet to fully pay off, and it has been rather bothersome at times just having students altogether; but you my love, you just helped me to realize how wrong I was to feel that way.

"And better yet," He added as he leaned further back to be kneeling upright while resting some of his weight on the top of her thighs, "You've also just helped me decide on our next move; and it's a beautiful one at that! Hell, we'll have so much fun ruining Igneel's world that we'll probably die from laughter and ecstasy!"

Edo was rambling eagerly as he complimented her, but she noticed two very specific words amidst all of the flattery he was giving her; and ever since she had heard him say them, her mind had practically shut down in pure happiness. She might have heard everything he told her, but her mind actually processed none of it after hearing him say 'my love'.

 _Wait, did he say that he… He… loves… me…?_ She thought to herself as he spoke; and after that, her mind was blank until she felt him start to move off of her while trying to continue talking about his new plan.

"Now, the only thing I have to do tonigh-" He spoke with purpose as he moved to kneel on beside her instead of over her; but he was soon interrupted as Cel bolted upward and hugged him tightly before explaining the source of her joy, which had an intensity to it that genuinely surprised Edo as she pulled him back down slightly.

"Sorry I'm interrupting, but I really need to make sure I heard you right…" She began to speak while holding him firmly, but she soon loosened her grip in order to pull back and look into his dark blue draconic eyes; and the warm glare her hazel eyes gave him as they glistened with glee somehow managed to disarm him, the supposed seen-it-all, done-it-all god. For once, he didn't care if she had been listening to him or not; all he wanted to do was hear what she had to say, wondering exactly what question would be so exciting for someone to ask.

"Edo," She questioned him with quietly nervous excitement, "Did… did you really mean it, what you said? Do… do you… love… me?"

The room was totally silent as Edo considered his answer carefully, having only just realized what he said himself; and it took a few agonizing seconds before Cel finally got him to answer with her pleading gaze.

"Cel, listen to me and try to understand this, okay?" He replied with a gentle honesty she had never seen in him before, so she readily listened to what he had to say, "I'm cursed to never feel love, and that won't change…"

The Titan's joy instantly appeared to deflate upon his words, but Edo quickly continued explanation; and she soon found herself becoming much more hopeful once more as he spoke.

"But however… 'feeling' is not the same as 'thinking'; and while I may not be able to feel fondness, empathy, or pure satisfaction; I've lived long enough to knowhow I should feel about certain things -and being able to feel physical pleasure certainly helps… But Cel, my darling, I know that if my heart wasn't so corrupted, I genuinely would love you; and the best thing I can offer you is a romance of the mind – and a chance to rule at my side once you've become strong enough to wield my true power.

"Just think…" He added with a quiet and sinister tone as he brought his face closer to hers once more, "One day soon, you could be my beautiful, devious, and deadly dark goddess; one that'll be feared worlds over alongside me, as we spend eternity doing whatever we damn well please…"

Realizing the immense amount of information and flattery he just dumped on her, Edo decided not to force the conversation; and instead of waiting for or prompting her response, the dark god simply moved off her and the bed entirely before turning back around to face her and offer a hand as he spoke.

"Come on and put your pants back on; we've got somewhere to be now."

Cel was slow to respond as she had yet to get over everything he had told her already, but her curiosity managed to compel her to take his hand and climb off the bed while questioning him.

"Uh… yeah, okay… But um, where are we gonna go?"

"Somewhere outside, most likely." he purposely gave her a vague answer before adding a clear piece of information as she stood in front of him before bending down to pick up the green clothes she dropped onto the floor earlier, "We do have to stop by the lab first, though; there is something I need to double-check before we go."

As she was putting her pants back on, Edo quickly shoved his boots on and rolled his pants' legs back down before seeing they were both ready to go; and he quickly opened a portal to his Shadow's laboratory before letting her lead the way in.

"Oh, how I enjoy this feeling," He declared eagerly as he let the portal close behind him to look around the room, "Walking into a fully equipped lab with a new spark of inspiration, it's a scientist's drug; and it never gets old!"

"I guess I'd agree with you if I knew what we were doing." Cel chimed in as she looked at him patiently. Working in the lab was not something she did often, and she could barely name half of the devices Edo had constructed and stashed inside the room; but her current state of bliss and curiosity aided her in getting past those hesitant and confused thoughts as she focused on simply following her lover's lead.

"Fair enough," Edo agreed before explaining why they were in the lab, "Well, we are in here because I want to take another look at a couple of our survivors from tonight's experiment."

Before explaining what he was looking specifically for, the dark wizard created a rift in the nearest wall that was large enough to allow two Enenrae through it; and as it did, the two summoned creatures stepped through almost instantly upon receiving a telepathic command from their creator.

"Ah, good; you're here already." He observed aloud before ordering them verbally, "Now, come closer, you two; no need to be shy. Master needs to take a look at you."

The two shadow creatures shuffled forward until their master seemed satisfied; and Edo stepped closer to the one on the left as he looked it over while scanning it with all of his senses, which made him grin proudly as he made his observations to his partner.

"And indeed, it was just as I thought. Somehow this one seems to have gotten stronger from the whole experience at Akane; and now that I'm checking, this other one has also grown a bit in power as well. Seeing that, I'm willing to bet they've gotten a bit smarter as well."

"And that means we can actually train them, can't we?" Cel deduced quickly, and Edo nodded before continuing.

"Yes, but that's not all." He said before gesturing her to step closer to the Enenra he was stood before, "Take a closer look at this one, and you'll see that he's a bit stronger than his friend here."

Cel complied with his instructions as he gave them, and she soon sensed what he was saying before adding a question once he stopped.

"Okay, I sense the difference; and I guess that means this guy probably fought more than that one did tonight. But why does that matter?"

"That doesn't." Her master explained as she stepped back slightly from the two creatures, "What does matter here is the fact that these two were different from the start. You wouldn't have noticed it since you don't usually work in here, but I did. At first, I put their power difference off as varying degrees of success; I mean, they were also so similarly matched that the difference was negligible at best. But now, I'm thinking their strength upon creation is determined by the strength of the people they once were."

"Huh," Cel remarked thoughtfully as she kept up with Edo's logic, "So then, if we captured someone really powerful, the Enenra we'd turn them into would be similar in strength?"

"That's what I'm hoping for," Edo confirmed with a calm eagerness as he moved in front of the right creature to inspect it closely, as he had with the first one, "Imagine it: If we somehow managed to catch ourselves a Saiyan, even a fraction of their power would create a superbly monstrous minion."

"Eddie, if you turned Gohan and his family into one of those things," the earth mage concluded aloud with a similarly vague excitement, "We wouldn't even have to worry about taking over Earthland; the Enenrae would do it for us."

"Well, I'd never let them have all the fun," the shadow mage admitted honestly before agreeing with her, "But yes, you're probably right. All we'd have to be worried about is the possibility of Igneel's interfering.

"Now… you, strong one," He suddenly said to the creature on the left before glancing to the one begore him and finishing his command, "Go ahead and cannibalize this guy for me."

Cel was slightly taken aback by the bizarre order, and even more so by the sight of the first creature actually following through with brutal speed and apparent enthusiasm. But then she sensed what her master must have suspected, as the first Enenra's power level nearly doubled upon completely consuming the other.

"Oh, wow…" She remarked admiringly before adding humorously, "I can't believe that actually worked; but man am I glad it did, because that would've looked really weird if it didn't."

Edo smirked in agreement before his grin widened in grim excitement.

"Well, if you thought that looked bizarre," He gave her a cryptic warning, "Wait until you see this."

Before she could ask what he was planning, Edo suddenly inhaled very rapidly; and to her surprise, Cel watched as her master gulped down the entire Enenra before him with one giant, vacuum-like breath. But just before she could comment on the accuracy of his warning, she watched as dark energy began to seep out from under his clothes and every pore of his exposed skin; and just before she could make another attempt at wondering what he was up to, Edo quickly regained control and forced his wild aura to dissipate.

"Sorry if that startled you," He apologized amusedly while grinning devilishly, "I just had to make sure I could do that."

"Oh don't worry, I'm fine." She reassured him promptly before adding, "Honestly, I was just thinking about how I've never seen you do that before. I mean, all the magic gods, dragons, and slayers can do tricks like it; but I still can't think of a time that I've seen you do it."

"That's because I don't like to." Edo explained honestly as he turned to face her, "You see, everything a slayer or god would eat for power has a taste to it, remember?"

"Of course I do," The Titan agreed naturally, "To me, a heap of gravel is basically a pile of puke compared to something made out of quartz or marble; and don't get me started on precious gemstones, I'm already starting to feel the cravings coming on…"

"Heh…" Edo chuckled before adding a more serious comment, "Well then, let's try not to get distracted. Anyways, the simple answer is that I got bored of the taste; and that there are a few bad flavors that somewhat ruined my taste for shadows and darkness.

"For example," He admitted honestly, "The Enenra I just ate tasted horrible, since he was made of something so closely related to my powers; but fortunately, my gamble paid off -and I didn't poison myself. Instead…"

"You just increased your power by however much that poor sap could give you?" She finished his sentence questioningly.

"Exactly." He replied before smirking and creating a new portal on the wall the entered from, "Now, with all this in mind, go ahead and ponder all the possibilities as we step out for a stroll."

"Oh believe me, I already am." She informed him as he began to move toward the new opening in the wall, until he stopped as she added a question to her remarks, "There's a lot would could accomplish with the right strategy in mind; but right now, I'm just wondering about where you're taking me."

"Didn't I say that already?" Edo reminded her in another attempt to be cryptic, "We're going out."

Liking the sound of those words and what they potentially implied, Cel went right along with Edo's wish to keep their destination a surprise; and instead of asking any more questions, she matched his amused smirk with one of her own before following him through the rift; but as soon as Cel stepped through the dark portal, she was slightly confused by where they ended up.

"A jewelry store?" She said puzzlingly as she looked around, "But I've never seen one so big… where are we?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular, it's just the most successful jewelry business in all of Crocus." Edo informed her with a bold smirk, but she immediately questioned his reasoning for coming here.

"Ed, are we really sure we want to be here? I mean, there's a chance that we've already set off some kinda motion detector or something? We might not be able to see whoever shows up to fight us."

"Relax, sweetheart, everything's just fine." He assured her confidently as he led her to the back of the over-sized shop, "Since most good businesses tend to lock up the merchandise after they close, all the quality items will be in one place; and here, there'll probably have some grand, over-the-top storage area like the rest of the place. It's a safe strategy against your typical conman or robber; but since we're not petty thieves or common criminals, all this place has done is stashed everything we want right into one nice and sturdy collection bin."

"I guess that is convenient," She conceded before mentioning her one other concern, "But we should probably still try and do this quickly, because I don't really want to find out just how badly Igneel messed us up; and I'm too tired to fight…"

"And like I said: don't worry, everything's fine." He reminded her of his reassurances before adding, "I'm not just walking blindly here, you know; I used to do this kind of stuff frequently back when I was nothing but a young runaway punk with some fire magic.

Finding the door to what looked to be the back office, Edo lazily kicked it down before casually leading his girlfriend through the entrance; and upon entering the room, they saw a wide, square staircase in the far corner that led down to an underground level, which they promptly followed down until they found the place they were looking for.

"Okay, now, that is easily the biggest vault I've ever seen." Cel remarked as she took in the sight of the massive door before them, but Edo was not so impressed; and he made the fact evident as he spoke while quickly inspecting the door.

"Yeah well, you never saw the magic door inside the last temple Igneel and I raided."

"Oh?" His follower questioned him curiously, "You mean the place where you became a god, right?"

Edo nodded before putting his ear to the side of the massive gilded-steel entryway and tapping it a few times, merely wishing to hear the sound of the reverberation for nostalgia's sake.

"Ah, how I wish I would've been able to rob somewhere like this when I was young." He lamented casually as he momentarily kept his ear against the door before beginning to back away a few paces and continuing his reminiscing, "I never became professional or anything, but I had a knack for being a lock-breaker. Any lock that could be picked I'd melt; and if that wouldn't work, I'd get creative. Something like this vault here would have been one of my lifelong goals if I hadn't met Igneel."

Cel looked at he boyfriend curiously as she tried to decide how to respond to his words. On one hand, he oddly seemed to be fine with speaking about his past, which especially bothered him when Igneel was brought up; but on the other hand, a part of her was wondering if he needed to hear something comforting. Luckily for her, Edo made her internal debate much simpler as he glanced to her with an amused smirk and revealed another thing he had never told her.

"You know, that criminal life of mine is how I ran into that exhibitionist."

"Really?" She asked, feeling more curious than ever; and he nodded before answering properly.

"It's true. Ironically, we met because we were both trying to steal from this traveling bazaar; but it was for completely opposite reasons. You see, I had learned that a few of the merchants kept their really expensive and personal items locked away from the actual market they would set up; so all I had to do was trick one or two big and dumb guys with swords and pikes into leaving the right wagons and carriages unattended, and then everything would've been aces, but just as I finished doing that…"

"Igneel showed up." The Titan guessed with a hint of amusement.

"He did; and the only thing he was looking for was their personal food stores! The half-naked idiot actually believed the rumor that compared to what they sold, the traders kept even more exotic foods to themselves; but somehow, the idiot managed to pick the wrong carriage. Aside from being around my god-awful family, that moment was the first big scare of my life.

"When I heard that door creaking open behind me as I was in the middle of robbing my second-to-last mark of the day, there were only two things that ran through my head: First, I wondered if I had screwed up and someone had caught onto me, and then I wondered if the person that tipped me off had actually double crossed me. But then I heard that moron's voice…

'Hey kid, you wouldn't happen to know where the food is would you?' Edo said as he imitated a young Iga perfectly before chuckling and continuing his story, "Hehe… That idiot was only a few years older than me… Anyway, I was so relieved to hear such a stupid and inane question that I forgot to disguise the reason why I was even in the same place as him; and it turned out that he had some kind of hero complex.

"According to him, stealing fancy meals they didn't really need wasn't a bad thing to do, but my stealing the money and valuables they never used somehow was; so as soon as I realized he wanted to stop me, I set the vehicle we were in on fire and made a run for it."

"And I bet you were surprised when he got past your fire magic." Cel guessed.

"And you would be correct," He affirmed before briefly changing the subject back to their current task at hand, "But let's put this on hold for a moment and decide who's going to take this thing down; or should we just take the whole thing and open it somewhere else?"

Cel blinked in some surprise at his question.

"You want to take the whole vault?"

"Well I don't want to keep the room, if that's what you're asking." He explained honestly, "But it really is just one giant safe, so it should stay intact if we cut it away from the rest of the building; think about it: we'd be able to take our time stealing everything rather than snatching whatever we see first and running."

"I mean, that does sound nice," She agreed partially before wondering, "But how are you going to know where you need to slice it up? Did you somehow find the layout for this place or something?"

"Didn't need to." Edo answered casually before looking to her and explaining, "I've got an Earth God Slayer here, don't I?"

"Oh, yeah… why didn't I think of that?" She realized amusingly with vague embarrassment before stepping closer to the vault door and placing a hand on it, "Okay, just give me a second. I don't think I've ever used my magic this precise yet, so this might actually be some decent sorta training…"

Her voice trailed off as she focused on her current task; and since Edo wanted to avoid distracting her, he quickly used his powers to enter the vault and look around while leaving the two portals open in order to hear she was finished, which happened barely half-a-minute after he left her alone.

"Alright, I think I've got it," He soon heard her call out to him, and he was about to return to her when she also added, "But uh, you don't mind making a scene on the way out, though, do you?"

"Not really," The dark mage replied promptly as he halted in place, "Why? What are you planning?"

"Well," He heard her respond, "I'm thinking that I'd just move this whole thing to the surface. That way, it'd be much easier to carry it or teleport it."

Edo had a mental image of the process she described in his head, and it soon made him grin excitedly before he stopped using his magic and readily agreed with her plan.

"Oh, yes, please! Gods, why couldn't I have met someone like you first; and not someone like Igneel?"

His very flattering and excited answer told her everything she needed to hear about their current plans as well; so she simply smiled, feeling relieved that he could not see her blushing from his praise, and then she quickly went back to focusing on her magic.

"Okay, well, hang tight; 'cause I'm going to try to make it a smooth ride, but no promises…"

Before Edo could ask her where she would be during the whole process, he felt the floor beginning to vibrate at a gentle frequency; but then that subtle vibration soon became a strong tremor, though it only lasted a few seconds before there was a brief pause.

"Okay… that was the worst part," He heard her voice announce, seemingly coming from every direction inside the vault, "But uh, be ready to get us out of here in a hurry just in case, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am." Edo obeyed with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his tone; and the ground began to gently vibrate once more only slightly increasing in intensity this time.

Outside the front of the large jewelry store, only few stray cats and a drunk were around to be witnesses to the unbelievable event they never imagined they would see; as almost half of one of the main streets of the capital city slowly erupted, revealing what the drunk saw as a giant steel room with a golden door.

But where that one person saw a bizarre and amazing sight they barely believed, Edo had only felt like he was taking a rather short but amusing elevator ride; and he casually stepped out of the vault as soon as he felt the quaking end, which instantly scared of the drunk. They had lived in that city long enough to know what a dark wizard looked like; so the minute they saw him, they were gone with a yelp.

"Well, if this isn't an amazing sight or what?"

Edo heard Cel's voice come from his left; and he turned to see her finish emerging from a spot on ground that was now about five yards from him, watching her skin finish returning to its normal state before meeting her gaze as she spoke again.

"Enjoyed the ride?"

Edo smirked at her question before answering as he moved to stand beside her.

"I did, but you were right about hurrying out of here. Being out in the open is the riskiest part about all of this, but there are a few secluded places I've got in mind."

 **In the valley of a mountain range on the Fiore/Seven border…**

A large region of the base of the valley turned jet-black as the ground seemingly opened into a deep, dark pit; and if anyone were around, they would have been astonished to see a massive vault rise from the darkness with a slow and steady pace, until the darkness receded from the ground to reveal the large rectangular structure and the person that was carrying it over his head with one hand.

"And good, we're all clear." Edo announced casually, "Now come on out so I can drop this thing."

Cel promptly obeyed by leaping down onto the ground ahead of him; and she quickly moved to his side before he lazily tossed the vault about ten yards from them, where it landed with a crash as they looked at each other and grinned with satisfaction. After pulling a stunt like that, they knew their enemies would figure out what they did eventually; and it gave them even more of a reason to be happy, knowing that they would once again be irritating either the guilds or Igneel even though they were both impaired by whatever the light god had done to them.

"Heh… I'll admit, that was kinda fun." Edo remarked with honest amusement before turning to her, wondering why she was still standing by him, "Well, why're you still over here? We didn't steal this stuff for me, after all."

"Good point." She agreed with a similar sense of amusement as she started walking towards the vault, and she turned back when she was nearly halfway to ask him a question, "You sure you don't want to look around in here, too? You never know, you just might find something you'd like. And maybe even something that'd help you update that outfit of yours…"

"I'm going to ignore that last part," Edo replied with dismissive humor before adding seriously, "But don't worry, I'll join you in a moment; I'm just going to check the area out first."

"Wait, you didn't check the area out before we came here?" Cel questioned him skeptically.

"Oh, relax, we're in the middle of nowhere." He answered calmly before creating a small portal on the ground near himself and adding, "Actually, the only person I've seen out here is my Earthland counterpart; but I think he's camped out somewhere far to our southwest."

"Really?" The earth mage replied matter-of-factly, "Well that's a shame; I was sorta hoping we'd run into him, since we're out in the middle of nowhere like you said."

"Trust me, you'd be disappointed." He promised her as he watched the portal's image changing at a slow rate, "He looks nothing like me, he's got no sense of humor, and he really hates humans; so he'd probably try to kill you on sight, actually."

"And you think that scares me?" She asked him pointedly.

"No," He answered honestly with a brief glance back to her before returning to his current task while explaining himself with some amusement, "But I'm not worried about you, I'm worried that you'd hurt my favorite pet before he has a chance to fight the dragon slayers."

Cel sighed in disappointment before quickly getting over it as she turned back towards the vault, speaking as she did.

"That's a shame, I guess. Well, whatever; I'll be in here if you need me."

Edo nodded quietly as he began to fully focus on securing the area, which only took him nearly half a minute before he was finished; and he soon moved to join Cel after finding no one in the surrounding area, which he announced as he reached the opened door of the vault.

"Well, we're alone; just like I thought we'd be." He said as he started looking inside for his companion, "Have you found something good already?"

"Boy, did I!" He heard her voice call back from the far-right corner of the massive room, and he smirked since it sounded like she was eating while she spoke, "There's so much stuff in here, I could eat like this for days…"

Following the sound of her voice, he walked forward and to the right from the entryway, past a couple racks and shelves of priceless jewelry, and through a barred doorway with its door ripped off the hinges beside it, where he looked left and right until seeing the Titan in the latter direction.

"You know, I was more wondering about something fashionable rather than edible; but an answer's an answer, I guess," He told her amusedly as he saw her opening one of four large, locked chests, "Ooh, what do we have here? A treasure trove of some kind?"

"Maybe," Cel answered as he heard the sound of metal crunching; and without turning away from the chest on the left, she briefly held out a large iron padlock that she squished into half its original width, "They do have this huge, anti-magic lock on all of them; so there's gotta be something."

Without waiting to hear Edo's response, she dropped the crushed padlock and opened the chest with one deft motion; and he listened to her initial reaction as he waited for her to reveal what was inside.

"Whoa…" She almost gasped in awe as she reached in and slowly put both hands around the sole item in the chest, "This is one of the biggest gems that I have ever seen…"

Carefully using both hands to lift it up, Cel slowly turned around to show Edo the watermelon-sized, seven ray, navy blue star sapphire in her hands.

"Just look at it!" She exclaimed excitedly as she held it up for her master, "I can't believe someone managed to dig up something this big and beautiful; and boy, do I wish I had seen it before they rounded it off…"

"I suppose there's a certain appeal to it," Edo agreed casually as he looked over the large gem, "The coloring is rather interesting."

"Well, it is in your color," She observed as he brought the gemstone closer to him, "Wanna keep it in the bedroom? Or better yet, we could put it on display in the living room and let Zancrow wonder how it got there."

The immortal chuckled at her response before moving to meet her halfway, "Funny, but I doubt he'd even notice it."

"I dunno… I might think the man's an idiot, but…" She disagreed tentatively as they reached each other, and she glanced to the gemstone in her hand before adding, "This thing seems pretty noticeable to me."

Edo glanced at the large gem as Cel did; and he listened to her response while finding that he could not disagree with her logic, at the least.

"Hm…" He hummed in thought before placing a hand underneath the gem to take it from her while adding, "Well, I suppose we wouldn't know for sure unless we tried to find out."

"So we're keeping it?" She replied with vague excitement as she let him hold the sapphire on his own; and he slowly held it up to eye level to inspect closely before lowering and answering her.

"Of course; but we're taking everything in here as well," He informed her, "Anything you don't want to eat or keep to yourself, I've got a use for."

"Yeah? And what would that be?" She asked curiously as Edo created a portal on the wall to his left; and he shoved the massive gem into the rift before withdrawing his hand and closing the portal, speaking to Cel as he did.

"Well, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, now would I?"

"Aw, come on," She pleaded halfheartedly, "You're really going to be like that? You could at least give me a hint…"

"Sorry, but I don't want to risk giving away the secret just yet." He informed her apologetically before giving her a consolation prize, "The only thing I can say for sure is that it's all part of my new plan to take over this planet, but I'll have to speak with our good pal Zeref before I make anything official."

"Zeref?" Cel repeated the name with a hint of disgust, "But I thought we were just gonna ignore him until he and Natsu killed each other… Why's he so important all of a sudden?"

" _He_ isn't." The dark god pointed out honestly as he moved past Cel to inspect the other three chests, "His twelve Shields and his army are the important parts."

"Okay, but for what?" The earth mage questioned him again as he stood over the still-locked boxes, "We're going to have our own army soon, aren't we? Why would we need anything from Zeref's people?"

"And I said you'll find out once it's all settled, didn't I?" He told her while still looking over the chests, "Now come on, let's stop worrying about how we're gonna kill everyone off for now and tear this place apart. It might not seem important right now, but taking all this stuff is step one in laying the groundwork for my plan; and boy, is it a doozy. Once everything is in place, Earthland will be ours; and not even Igneel or the Saiyans will be able to stop us.

"And I'll promise you this: Igneel is going to regret screwing with me this time, and WE are going to make sure every light guild in Fiore will pay for his insolence; and we're gonna have a hell of a time doing it!"


End file.
